Hundreds of millions of pounds will now be pumped into infrastructure surrounding Preston to kick-start a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ programme of growth.
It allows Preston and Lancashire to take forward four new road schemes, enabling over 17,000 new homes to be built, freeing up land for new development, and creating more than 20,000 jobs.
Of the total investment, £130m will come from central government, £71m from Lancashire County Council, £34m from Preston Council, £33m from South Ribble Council and £70m from developers.
Around £100m will be investment from the Lancashire Pension Fund, which will be co-invested on a commercial basis.
The City Deal is the first unveiled for the second phase roll out of the Government scheme to inject new life into cities.
City Deal details
Four transport schemes
- Preston Western Distributor – enabling 4,000 new homes, improving access to the Warton Enterprise Zone and costing £109.5m
- South Ribble Western Distributor – enabling 2,700 new homes, full development of two strategic employment sites and costing £53m
- Broughton Congestion Relief – enabling 1,400 new homes, employment sites in East Preston and costing £24m
- Penwortham Bypass – improving access between local and motorway networks, costing £17.5m.
Housing
- The deal is expected to enable the delivery of 17,400 new homes in the Preston area – 2,400 more new homes over what was previously planned.
- Around 1,200 new homes are expected to have been built by 2015, with a further 1,200 under construction by 2015.
Private sector leverage
- The establishment of an Infrastructure Delivery Programme and Investment Fund worth a combined total of £450m is expected to leverage a further £2.3bn of commercial investment in housing and employment sites.
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg hailed the deal as a major boost for the city’s economy:
“This is an historic deal for the people of Preston and Lancashire. The North West has seen strong economic growth in recent years, so this deal with Government means that hard-working families can have the jobs and homes they need to get on in life. It puts more power in the hands of local people so that they can choose where the big investments are made.
