Earlier this week it was announced that Isle of Wight council had been successful in gaining a £5.8m Government grant for regeneration of East Cowes.
On Friday, the ward councillor for East Cowes, Karl Love, along with the council’s Cabinet member for Regeneration, the Mayor of East Cowes, the Isle of Wight Conservative MP and the IW councillor for Osborne, took part in a briefing by the council’s Director for Regeneration, Chris Ashman.
Funds used to significantly improve the area
Following Cllr Karl Love said,
“Along with senior management of Wight Shipyard, Chris Ashman walked us around the Venture Quays site, looking at various aspects of how the £5.8m ‘levelling up’ fund will be used to significantly improve the area, employment prospects and in bring back to life the historic horse guard barracks used by Queen Victoria’s troops.”
Tight time scales
Cllr Love went on to say,
“The bid was put forward just weeks after the new Alliance administration was formed.
“Supporting the town’s regeneration applications, the bid had to be put together quickly as it had time pressures attached to the submission for the East Cowes Venture Quays project. This was one of the few able to qualify to comply, with the tight timescales imposed upon both the submission and the spending of the funding following a successful submission.
A centre for innovation and technology
Cllr Love added,
“East Cowes is an important innovation and technology centre for shipbuilding and wider transportation innovation.
“Its future looks much brighter now as it receives this multi-million pound investment that creates jobs and enhances the Esplanade for the people of East Cowes – helping to sustain a positive future for East Cowes, which is a town of Royal footsteps and mediaeval history.
“It’s also where the future of our young people can be forged and an inspiring Island gateway developed, which we hope will grow in the coming years supporting the residents of our Island. There are further project developments on the horizon for East Cowes.”
Image: L-R Cllr Love, Bob Seely, Cllr Jones-Evans, Cllr Paler, Cllr Palin and Cllr Hendry by the Columbine Building
