Cornwall could benefit from almost £2 billion of public and private sector investment to build new homes and schools and create jobs over the next thirty years.
Members of Cornwall Council’s Cabinet this week agreed to support the submission of an outline business case for Government funding for housing which, if successful, could attract up to £300 million to build new affordable and extra care housing for vulnerable people over the next thirty years.
This follows last week’s announcement by the Government that Cornwall has been formally admitted into the national Building Schools for the Future programme. The Council has been initially allocated around £70 million of Government funding to rebuild or refurbish the six secondary schools identified within its “priority” wave but the total programme could see Cornwall receiving up to £500 million to replace or refurbish all of its 31 secondary schools over the next 15 years.
Cornwall Council Leader Alec Robertson said this was a very exciting time for Cornwall. “Together these three projects could see almost £2 billion being invested in providing new homes and schools across Cornwall” he said. “As well as enabling the Council to build hundreds of new homes and transform our secondary schools, this funding will also provide a much needed boost for Cornwall’s economy and could create at least 10,000 new well paid, higher skilled and long term jobs” “
“The current economic downturn has had a particularly severe impact on employment opportunities for young people in Cornwall, with many unable to find a job or access training. One of the exciting benefits of this investment will be to provide training for these young people within all parts of the construction industry and the Council will be working with its partners to ensure that as many young people as possible take advantage of these opportunities ”.
Details of the PFI Affordable and Extra care Housing project were outlined to Members at this week’s meeting by Mark Kaczmarek, the Council’s cabinet member for Housing who said the scheme would benefit many people in Cornwall.
“Delivering affordable homes to meet the needs of local communities is a key priority for Cornwall Council” he said. “This project is not about building large housing estates in major towns, however. We are looking at developing a range of small and medium sized schemes in our villages and small towns where there is a real and urgent need for this type of housing”.
“We have carried out detailed consultation with a wide range of organisations and individuals, including elected Members, to identify areas of land which would be suitable for development and I am confident that our bid for funding will be successful and we will be able to deliver this exciting scheme. “.
Mr Kaczmarek added that any additional money generated by the PFI project will be invested in building council homes and low cost housing in Cornwall. .
The scheme will involve building 441 new affordable local needs homes, with a further 300 “Extra Care” homes being provided for older people and those with disabilities.
The provision for Extra Care homes in the project has been welcomed by Armand Toms, the Council’s Cabinet member for housing. “The number of people over the age of 85 years in Cornwall is predicted to rise by more than 50% over the next 15 years” he said.
“These Extra Care houses, which provide older people with access to housing, care and support services, will play a vital part in helping them to remain independent and stay in their own homes for as long as possible”.
Following this week’s Cabinet decision work will now continue on developing the outline business case which will be sent to the Homes and Community Agency and HM Treasury within the next few months.