Seven Town Fund Projects Worth Millions Set To Boost Crawley Economy

Thursday, 5 January 2023 06:00

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

Seven Town Fund projects worth £12.6m that will boost Crawley’s economy have been approved by the government.

In September 2021, the government gave the Crawley Town Deal Board the go-ahead to fully develop 10 project business cases in detail to receive the money from the Towns Fund between 2021/22 and 2025/26.

Seven of these projects have been approved, with another expected to get the green light shortly.

Crawley Innovation Centre will be a green technology and advanced engineering centre in Manor Royal, which will help significantly increase innovation output.

The centre has been granted £2.5m from the Towns Fund and a £8.4m from the Getting Building Fund. Planning permission was granted in November.

The Commercial Eastern Gateway plan receives £150,000 to fund a feasibility study for further phases of commercial space in this part of the town centre, following on from the new Town Hall with its 77,000 square feet of commercial space.

£2m goes to the Crawley Bus Station and Station Gateway improvements, along with £5.4m from the Crawley Growth Programme.

The project will deliver a distinctive and enjoyable public space with improved bus shelter facilities that encourages vitality in this part of the town centre with a strong sense of place.

The creation of a Town Centre Cultural Quarter receives £450,000.

The first stage will be putting on a series of pop-up cultural / arts enterprises and events to test new venues and spaces within the town centre.

Manor Royal’s business environment improvement programme will see further micro-parks created as well as a walking trail between each of them, thanks to £1.5m from the Towns Fund.

The Crawley green homes retrofitting programme benefits from £4m. In the first phase, 300 flats are expected to benefit from cavity wall insulation by the end of March 2023.

The projects are guided by the Crawley Town Deal Board, an established group of more than 50 representatives from local businesses, community organisations and public organisations.

Cllr Atif Nawaz, Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Development at Crawley Borough Council, said:

“These Towns Fund projects will benefit the town centre, Manor Royal and residents across Crawley.

"The £12.6m will help the town embrace its full potential and boost job creation, business growth and economic recovery.”