DETAILS have been revealed of what £19.5m worth of government funding will be spent on in Weymouth.
The funding will be used for adding infrastructure to and repairing harbour walls at Weymouth peninsula and at North Quay - to attract private investment to the town - and bringing forward work to Weymouth's harbour walls by 10 years.
It will also be used to enable Dorset Council to buy more land within the town centre for development opportunities.
It was announced on Wednesday, January 19 that Dorset Council had been successful in securing the Levelling Up funding, intended for investment in Weymouth.
This new investment comes after Dorset Council's £17m funding bid to regenerate Weymouth's waterfront economy was rejected by the government in 2021- for round one of levelling up cash.
However, after being more successful in a second bid, Dorset Council has backed the government investment by making a sizeable £3.5m donation towards the costs bringing up the total value of the investment to £23m.
The main focus of the work outlined in the bid includes:
- The installation of utility infrastructure and repairs to the harbour walls at the Peninsula and North Quay which will allow proposals from private investors for new residential, commercial and leisure to be invited.
- The business case for the harbour wall repairs is based on bringing work forward by ten years, so redevelopment can happen sooner.
- Land assembly within the town centre which involves purchasing long leasehold interests as the council did last year for Weymouth Bowl. This will help generate fresh development opportunities and regain management of the land that the council already owns.
Cllr Tony Ferrari, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Property, Assets and Regeneration said: "To be successful in this second round of funding is great news for Weymouth and shows that it is not ‘a forgotten town’.
"Our bid was ambitious and robust and our continuous lobbying to government has paid off. This fabulous sum of money will significantly help towards regenerating Weymouth.
"In anticipation of this funding announcement, officers have been working on a revised planning application to demolish North Quay. Today’s announcement will allow us to quickly present this application and to do the required enabling works to bring this site forward as a prime waterfront location, should we get the necessary planning consent.
"The £19m allows us to put the essential infrastructure in place to attract private sector investment which in turn will lead to new homes being built, increased employment and a more prosperous town.
"We’ll now also be able to accelerate the programmed harbour wall maintenance work which will allow regeneration to happen by making Weymouth a sustainable seaside town with robust flood defences, which in turn will attract private investment."
Since the announement, Council officers have met with civil servants from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to discuss the next steps and to agree a rough timescale for the projects.
Projections suggest the council and government will be in a position to agree a contract for delivery of the projects in the spring.
Richard Drax, Conservative MP for South Dorset, said:"I am delighted at this news; Weymouth has long languished at the bottom of the list for funding. The town has so much to offer and £19m in levelling up funds will go a long way towards the waterfront regeneration plans.
"I would like to congratulate Matt Prosser and the council officials and others who have worked so long and so hard on this bid."
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