Ambition North Wales has announced a strong pipeline of new projects, which are being given the opportunity to bid for part of unallocated Growth Deal funding in the future.
The move aims to accelerate regional growth through the delivery of sustainable economic projects across North Wales, which will generate jobs and align with environmental commitments.
Each potential new project, 16 confirmed - with a 17th subject to confirmation on scope, has been placed on a Reserve List. The projects must now produce Business Cases in order to secure part of the funding – which will be considered in terms of their impact for the region and how quickly they can move into delivery.
The Reserve List has been drawn up following a review of its own Growth Deal projects by Ambition North Wales – freeing up an initial £51m of funding, and a subsequent expression of interest process. Ambition North Wales partners, Welsh Government and UK Government were invited to put forward their priority public and private sector proposals for consideration.
The funding released by Ambition North Wales, following its portfolio review was possible given its decision to withdraw two of its Growth Deal projects altogether, while moving three on to the new Reserve List - bringing the total number of schemes on the list to 20.
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Cllr Mark Pritchard, Chair, Ambition North Wales:
“Our name says it all – we have great ambitions for North Wales and we want to deliver faster and smarter for the region. This new Reserve List contains projects with the potential to do just that – as they should be in a position to produce Business Cases over the coming 12-18 months with a view to moving swiftly into delivery, should approval be given. The result will improve the pace of delivery of sustainable economic growth across the region.”
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans, said:
“We welcome the work undertaken by Ambition North Wales to review existing projects and identify a pipeline of potential new proposals. This provides an opportunity to take stock of progress to date and unlock new opportunities, maximising the potential to invest in transformational developments that can swiftly deliver sustainable growth and jobs across the region. We look forward to seeing this work progress over the coming months.”
Wales Office Minister Dame Nia Griffth said:
“It’s great to see a strong reserve list of projects come forward for investment.
“The purpose of UK Government’s funding of Ambition North Wales is to deliver economic growth to the region and create well-paid jobs that will put more money in people’s pockets. It’s important that successful projects help us to deliver on that commitment.”
The projects, which sit across Growth Deal programmes, are listed on here.
Progress on deliverability of the Reserve List projects will be reviewed every six months by Ambition North Wales. Potentially, this could provide the opportunity for additional project proposals to be considered. Organisations with such prospective schemes are asked to engage with their relevant local authority economic development team in the first instance.