Multi-million pound boost and new jobs earmarked for Telford 'Station Quarter'
Up to new 60 jobs have been earmarked under plans to kickstart Telford's proposed Station Quarter with a £19 million investment boost.
The investment will come from the borough council and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to redevelop brownfield sites in Telford Town Centre, Donnington and Wellington.
Among the schemes is the development of the new Station Quarter to improve the links between Telford’s train station to Southwater.
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Under the proposals around 500 new homes would be developed along with new business and leisure facilities which could create dozens of jobs.
The council said it had carried out months of significant and detailed negotiations to secure funding from the enterprise agency to progress the schemes.
The projects would be funded to the tune of by £12m from the authority's own £60m Regeneration and Investment fund while £7m would come from the LEP's Local Growth Fund.
The money would allow the council to secure land in the town centre to allow the Station Quarter scheme’s infrastructure development to progress. This would enable a mix of a range of housing as well as commercial and leisure developments.
The other two brownfield sites the funding will support are a site in Donnington for a housing-led development and the former New College site in Wellington which the Council acquired last year.
The funding will allow key infrastructure for all sites to be developed while the council will seek to build in further measures such as the use of solar energy and the use electric vehicle charging points to help it meets its aspiration for the borough to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Exciting
In total the three schemes would bring 50 acres of derelict land back into use.
Telford & Wrekin's regeneration chief Councillor David Wright said: “This is a very important step forward for three key schemes all using brownfield land to bring a huge level of investment, new homes and businesses into the borough.
“Without our own Regeneration and Investment fund, none of this would be happening.
“Perhaps the most exciting is the potential that will created for the Station Quarter and the part this can play in helping to make Telford an even more attractive destination for our residents and in attracting new investment to the town, linking Telford station and the town centre and Southwater.
“At such a challenging time and in so many ways, now is the time for totally committed leadership to drive growth and further stimulus in our economy and that is exactly what we are doing here.
“Such development will be key to help the borough’s economy as it recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The funding will be discussed by the council's cabinet on Thursday.
