£25 million bid submitted for Colchester projects

Colchester was one of 101 towns across the country to be chosen to apply for up to £25 million from the Government's Town Deal Fund.

Since then, over a thousand individuals, groups and businesses shared their views on what improvements they would like to see throughout the town, which have been developed into several projects.

The list of projects include:

• Creation of digital work hubs.
• Transforming facilities for young people.
• A digital skills hub at the Wilson Marriage Centre, Magdalene Street.
• Public realm improvements in the town centre.
• Restoration of Holy Trinity Church and the first phase of restoring 'Jumbo' the Victorian water tower.
• Transformation of community facilities in Greenstead.
• Accelerate introduction of 5G.
• Improved walking and cycling links across the town.

The bid was submitted by the We Are Colchester Board, which is a partnership formed in January 2020 involving public, private and voluntary organisations.

Board Chair and local businessman, Simon Blaxill, said: "I believe that we have submitted a very strong bid for this money. The list of projects chosen, will make a long lasting, positive difference to our town.

"They will promote skills development, create jobs for local people, make our communities more attractive and with better facilities. The Town Deal provides Colchester with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make our town an even better place to live, work and visit."

Councillor David King, Colchester Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Businesses and Resources, who also chairs the We Are Colchester Advisory Group, added: "We have already secured £1M. If successful, this further £25 million bid will enable big improvements to be made across the whole town. Our public consultations showed that people want Colchester to be ‘greener’, to provide greater opportunities for young people and to make it easier for people to walk and cycle.

"Local people want the town to be made more attractive and for improvements to be made to infrastructure. The projects that We Are Colchester have submitted to the Government address all these issues.

"With the help of other investors, we can make a huge difference to residents and help businesses and those they employ at this difficult time to have confidence in Colchester's future, as a great place to live, work and visit."

We Are Colchester is expecting to hear whether it has been successful in getting all or some of the money before February 2021.