Town deals in Penzance, St Ives, Camborne & Truro could provide £185 million of projects
Cornwall Council has agreed to recommend that the authority should provide £16.42m to help deliver the deals
Last updated 25th Jun 2021
Town deal schemes in Cornwall could result in more than £185million being invested in four town centres across the Duchy.
Camborne, St Ives and Penzance were recently announced as being successful in securing Town Deal funds from the Government, joining Truro which had already been announced.
A total of £88.7m has been granted across the four locations - Penzance £21.5m; St Ives £19.9m; Camborne £23.7m and Truro £23.6m.
However the proposals also require match funding from Cornwall Council, other public funding and private funding so the total value of the schemes is more than £185m.
On Wednesday, Cornwall Council's Cabinet agreed to recommend to full council that the council should provide £16.42m to help deliver the four town deals.
Whilst the Government funding for the town deals has been announced the funding for individual projects will only be released once full business cases are provided for the schemes.
Glenn Caplin-Grey, service director for economic growth at the council, said that while the announcements were welcome there was hard work to be done to prepare the business cases.
He said: "We have been really successful in getting one of the biggest settlements in the UK. Camborne has the highest grant for any town in the South West, that is particularly pleasing.
"The timetable for developing the proposals is short. The Government funding will not be coming forward until those projects are signed off in detail".
Mr Caplin-Grey said that Cornwall Council would have to underwrite the development costs of the projects.
Councillor Loveday Jenkin said she was concerned about the approval process and wondered whether it would be better if the projects could be signed off in Cornwall.
Mr Caplin-Grey said that there was a process in place for the town deals and said that he had "officers absolutely making sure that the business cases are robust".
He added: "I am happy with the process and the help the Government has given us with the funding".
Stephen Rushworth, Cabinet member for economic growth and development, said: "Be rest assured that I will be making all my efforts in making sure we don't get into too much bureaucracy and get a decision as soon as possible".
The report to Cabinet explained that the economic benefits of the schemes could be worth a total of £1.9billion and could create more than 600 new jobs, as well as providing an array of facilities for the four towns.
Read More:
Prime Minister announces £65m deals for St Ives, Penzance and Camborne to leave 'G7 legacy'
Prime Minister announces £23m deal for Truro to boost economy, create jobs and new homes