The council share this latest news. Ed
The Isle of Wight Council has been successful in securing £250,000 through the government’s One Public Estate (OPE) programme to be used to scope the development of a range of key projects to generate income for public services and new homes and jobs for the Island.
The announcement follows an earlier award of £50,000 to develop an Isle of Wight OPE delivery plan, led by the council with partners including the NHS trust, clinical commissioning group, Homes and Communities Agency, police, and fire and rescue service.
A variety of projects
The latest bid included projects for locality hubs at Pyle Street, Newport and the Heights, Sandown (linked to the My Life a Full Life programme), development of the former Camp Hill Prison as part of a wider regeneration of parts of St Mary’s Hospital and the Horsebridge Hill area, and exploration of the potential for joint “blue light” services (co-location of fire, police and ambulance services). The sites involved are mainly in the ownership of the partner organisations.
The council is awaiting full details of the allocated funds but has been informed that £65,000 will be available in 2017/18 with a further £185,000 in 2018/19.
The funding – to help maximise benefits from public land – complements the renewed focus towards attracting wider private sector investment and growing jobs that the council is developing with partners in the coming months.
Revitalisation of some really key sites
Executive member for regeneration, Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, said:
“This award is great news for the Island and demonstrates that the government is recognising the joint working of the council and its partners to deliver and sustain pubic services by using resources in an effective and efficient way. Clearly it is early days, but as the project develops we are hoping to see the revitalisation of some really key sites, with the creation of new homes and jobs for the Island.
“I would like to congratulate our officers and those at our partner organisations who have worked to develop this bid and the OPE project, and now look forward to the involvement of our new regeneration team in progressing the plans further over the coming months.
“This kind of joined up approach is what Island residents expect from their public services and this funding assures them that this is happening.”
Image: Phillip Taylor under CC BY 2.0
