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Delivering investment and
improvements in the Liverpool City Region
FURTHER significant progress in
implementing the Devolution Deal announced last year is expected to be approved
at Friday's Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting, with major
improvements and developments set to be agreed.
The schemes are to be funded from the £232m Local Growth Fund, secured by the
Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, which will invest in
transport and skills projects across the City region.
Work on the £4.95 million A570 Linkway improvement scheme (the main route
linking the M62 with St Helens) is expected to be cleared to get under way later
this year. The improvement scheme will improve capaCity, reduce congestion and
address safety issues, and consists of junction improvements to Sherdley
Roundabout and Sutton Hall Roundabout, and safety enhancements to the School
Lane crossing.
The scheme in St Helens is 1 of 7 major transport schemes planned for this
year; the others include:- Silver Jubilee Bridge maintenance in Halton, A565
North Liverpool Corridors in Liverpool, Windle Island in St Helens, and M58
Junction 1 improvements in Sefton.
Work is already under way on other schemes to reduce congestion in Knowsley,
including access improvements to Knowsley Business Park and improvements to the
A5300 Knowsley Expressway.
Investment from the Local Growth Fund to improve college facilities are also set
to be approved. Myerscough College in Liverpool is due to be awarded £1.997
million to create specialist new build facilities at the Croxteth campus for
equine and animal studies, and Wirral Metropolitan College is in line for £2.2
million towards a University Health Campus at the Wirral Waters Enterprise Zone.
These projects are expected to start on site later in 2016.
Plans to develop a technology centre in Halton are also due to be considered as
part of a potential £5 million commitment from the Local Growth Fund to the
project. The funding would support Alstom Transport UK Ltd's plans to create a
major new rail facility for the United Kingdom. The project could involve
approximately 450,000 sq ft being constructed on the HBC Field site at 3MG
Widnes, employing some 600 people and providing a new North West Rail Skills
Academy.
The Combined Authority is committed to bringing empty buildings back into use.
One such project which is also recommended for approval on Friday is the plan to
transform the former Littlewoods building on Edge Lane in Liverpool into film
studios. An allocation of £4.95 million from the Local Growth Fund is being
recommended to support the Littlewoods Studios project. Work on this project
will transform 11,000 sq m into a film studio, studio work and office space as
well as developing a creative and digital hub and Liverpool Theatre school,
which will see the creation of 345 jobs.
Mayor Joe Anderson, Chair of the Liverpool City Combined Authority, said:-
"I am really looking forward to Friday's meeting and am proud of the
significant progress we already making. These are just the most recent examples
of the positive work already started by the Combined Authority right across the
whole of the City Region to the benefit of our residents, businesses and
visitors alike. The investments and progress reported show that we are already
delivering our commitments. I have every confidence that we will continue to
secure economic growth, jobs, investment and development in our City Region." |
