Over £40 million worth of projects coming to Loughborough

The Town Centre will receive £3million of investment.

A series of projects worth over £40 million have received the backing of Loughborough Town Deal.

The aim is to boost skills, improve the town centre, reduce flooding, regenerate the riverside, develop a creative hub and support two key attractions – Great Central Railway and John Taylor’s Bell Foundry.

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, Chairman of Loughborough-based Morningside Pharmaceuticals and Co-Chair of the Town Deal Board, said: "Our vision is to make Loughborough a great place to live, learn, work, and grow and provide opportunities for all."

The Town Deal Board has been offered £16.9 million by the Government to invest in Loughborough and 11 projects have been backed by the board to receive funding.

With Town Deal funding and match funding, the projects are worth more than £40 million.

Perhaps most exciting is the proposed 'Living Loughborough Project', which aims to, 'make the town centre a dynamic, pleasant, safe social hub.'

This will involve the creation of:

• Urban Plaza – increased seating and dining areas.
• Semi- permanent stalls to encourage pop ups and street activity.
• Multipurpose infrastructure to support markets, business, and community events.
• Undercover performance space, improved sound, vision, and lighting
• Promotion of the town’s cultural heritage, use of apps, trails and augmented reality.
• Safe town, improved lighting, and CCTV.
• Contributes to clean growth by reducing the need for people to travel to other areas for entertainment and shopping.

The Co-Chair of the Town Deal Board Councillor Jonathan Morgan, said: "The Town Deal represents a huge opportunity for Loughborough, its residents and local businesses and I am pleased we will be able to support these projects and progress them to the next stage."

"The Town Deal will help improve skills for local people which will be particularly important as we recover from the pandemic, but it will also tackle some issues that have held back our town for many years, such as the risk of flooding."

The projects which have been approved to progress to the next stage are:

• Loughborough College Digital Skills Hub
• Living Loughborough Project
• Healthy and Innovative Loughborough
• Loughborough Wood Brook Flood Risk Management Scheme
• The Bedford Square Gateway Project
• The Generator - Creative Industries and Community Arts Hub
• John Taylor's Bell Foundry: Saving the last major bell foundry in Britain
• Loughborough Riverside Regeneration
• Careers and Enterprise Hub
• Great Central Railway - A new Heritage Locomotive Works, Education Centre & Museum for Loughborough

A final decision on funding for each project will be made by the Government following the submission of the business cases.

Decisions are expected over the next 12 months.