The Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed the award of £71.1 million to Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership as the third allocation of Growth Deal fund - totalling £219.1 million. The latest allocation will be used to fund housing, transport, skills development, as well as enterprise and innovation projects across the area.
Local MP, Anne Milton, said: "I am delighted that the Secretary of State has listened and awarded Enterprise M3 these funds. This will have a real impact in our local area, protecting jobs and delivering additional homes. I am particularly pleased about the investment that will be made in Guildford, notably the £7.5 million provided for the Slyfield Regeneration Project and the £12.5 million allocated to improve our town centre transport links. I have been lobbying for some time along with Guildford Borough Council for infrastructure improvements, and these funds will bring some much-needed results. This is a good start but the A3 and other hotspots also need attention, as does the train capacity into London."
Enterprise M3 is a business-led Local Enterprise Partnership, one of 38 in England, which works to secure economic growth at sub-national level. It brings together leaders from the business, public and not-for-profit sectors and provides strategic leadership to drive sustainable private sector growth.
It aims to improve business productivity, increase jobs and maximise the number of businesses operating across Enterprise M3, and has a particular focus on improving trade links working with Invest in Surrey and Invest in Hampshire.
The Enterprise M3 area stretches from the edge of London to the New Forest covering mid to north Hampshire and South West Surrey. The area brings together business leaders from 14 district authorities across two counties and has interconnected urban centres of Woking, Guildford, Farnborough and Basingstoke, as well as the towns of Staines-upon-Thames, Camberley, Aldershot, Whitehill and Bordon and Andover.
The councils involved in the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership are:
· Hampshire County Council
· Surrey County Council
· Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
· East Hampshire District Council
· Elmbridge Borough Council
· Guildford Borough Council
· Hart District Council
· New Forest District Council
· Runnymede Borough Council
· Rushmoor Borough Council
· Spelthorne Borough Council
· Surrey Heath Borough Council
· Test Valley Borough Council
· Waverley Borough Council
· Winchester City Council
· Woking Borough Council