Member Article

Hertfordshire LEP allocates first £11.5m of Growing Places

Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership has made its first allocation of Growing Places Funding.

£11.5m has been designated for the first four projects to be ‘unlocked’ through the Growing Places Fund.

The projects to benefit from funding are Watford Health Campus, Maylands Gateway and Spencer’s Park in Hemel Hempstead and Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

It is hoped the projects will generate a combined total of over 4,000 new jobs and 2,000 new homes by the time all phases are completed, as work on some schemes is due to start within the next year.

More than £85m if private sector investment will be leveraged as a result of this commitment.

For Elstree Studios, owned by Hertsmere Borough Council, the £2m funding will mean new film and television production facilities can be built, alongside some business premises.

In Maylands Business Park, the £3.5m funding will kick-start two stalled sites to create a combination of new business units and homes.

At Watford Health Campus, £6m of funding will support infrastructure to improve access to the site, with a new hospital, housing, offices, a hotel, a business park and green spaces for the local community.

John Gourd, of Johnson Matthey and Chair of the Hertfordshire LEP, said: “We are delighted to be able to kick-start these projects that have stalled due to the economic downturn.

“We will be initiating a further round of applications where partners will be invited to bid for the remaining money.”

A further round of applications will take place, where partners will be invited to submit projects to the LEP for the remaining pot of money.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .