North Lincolnshire Council’s transformation plans for Scunthorpe will receive Government funding – announced today by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in his budget.
The bold proposals are designed to enable the county town to compete with cities across the UK to attract private sector investment.
Investments will be focused on creating an advanced manufacturing park with four million sq ft of space to attract more world-class engineering firms to the area, further development of the town’s cultural quarter in and around Church Square and progressing work on a health and emergency services hub.
Cllr Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “These plans have always been about investing in a better future for the people of Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire.
“That ambition has been supported today with the announcement of Government cash to get the many varied and transformational projects going.
“We’ve seen a lot of development across the town in the last few years, we’ve had a great deal of support and cash through Covid-19 to keep things going and now this will be an essential part of the recovery and renewal.
“These very serious plans for investment across the next five years will create jobs, they will create even better conditions for growth and make the area a more attractive environment for businesses to invest.
“The end result be more highly-skilled, well-paid, sustainable jobs in Scunthorpe for the people who live here.”
The advanced manufacturing park, cultural quarter development and emergency services hub projects are to be supported with significant investment in gigabit broadband to help businesses gain a competitive edge.
The development of around 500 new homes in the town and a skills development programme is designed to ensure local people are best placed to take advantage of all the new opportunities.
This latest investment proposal follows £40m of funding that has been invested by the council and Government alongside businesses and educational institutions since 2015 in the town centre – bringing in hundreds of new jobs, providing facilities for more than 1,500 students and unlocking housing and quality public space.
This includes the development of Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire, the Ongo Headquarters, St John’s Market, an extension to Church Square House, establishing the University Campus North Lincolnshire (UCNL), housing on West Street and a raft of road improvements.
On top of this, funding was confirmed to support the development of the former market site as part of the Future High Street Fund and Government cash has been confirmed for the development of the Able Marine Energy Park.
