Lowestoft investment plan to be submitted to government
It will detail projects that can be complete in a decade.
Last updated 2nd Sep 2020
A blueprint for investment in Lowestoft over the next 10 years is to be submitted to the government next month in a bid to secure up to £25million of cash for key projects.
Lowestoft and Ipswich are Suffolk’s two towns out of 100 nationwide to be eligible for Towns Fund support – a £3.6billion pot set up by the government aimed at helping regenerate communities.
The next stage of the process requires a Town Investment Plan to be submitted to the government by October 31 which will map out the strategy and delivery of regeneration projects, as well as detailing all of the projects that can be delivered within a decade.
That plan is then expected to be assessed by government officers by December, which will then enable the towns to develop the individual business cases.
At Tuesday night’s meeting of East Suffolk Council cabinet, the administration agreed to conclude the plan with the Lowestoft Place Board – a group of key town leaders united in achieving the investment.
Conservative council leader Steve Gallant said: “Clearly we should welcome any investment we can get into the local area.
“Lowestoft has been the focus of a significant round of government funding in respect of various infrastructure builds, and never before has there been such an important time to invest in our towns and communities.”
Lowestoft has already secured £750,000 in Towns Fund cash announced on July 1, with the lion’s share of that going towards the revamp of the iconic East Point Pavilion.
It follows a mammoth £43m investment by the government in the town’s flood defences, and a commitment by the Department for Transport to provide more than £73m towards the building of the Lake Lothing Third Crossing.
Councillor Louise Gooch from the council’s Labour group said the Investment Plan was “a fine piece of work” and added: “The examples given play to the strengths of the town as evidence of good practice here, and that is what we need to be doing.
“Lowestoft has lots of assets that are evidenced here and it looks to be an agile document into assessing the wider impacts of Covid.”
Ideas published in the Lowestoft Masterplan last month are expected to be among those in the Investment Plan.
By Jason Noble, Local Democracy Reporting Service