Levelling Up Monies for North - West FE and HE Real Estate Projects

As the in-depth scrutiny of the real impact of the Chancellor’s Autumn Spending Review continues it was good to see a significant chunk of the Levelling Up Fund heading to development projects in the North West.

University of Salford together with its partners, Salford City Council and English Cities Fund was successful in its bid to receive £13million for Salford Rise, a pedestrian podium which will link the university with the local community. This is a key aim of the University’s masterplan and will also promote active and sustainable travel in the area.

Bolton College and Bolton University were also beneficiaries receiving £20m to aid in the completion of their £30million Medical Sciences Building which will provide training to healthcare professionals and is due to complete in 2022.

University of Central Lancashire is aiming to increase student numbers in the deprived town of Burnley from 1700 currently to over 6000 by 2032. Key to this is the expansion of the campus to include Sandygate Mill which will house the library and Student Union. UCLAN were successful in their bid to receive nearly £20million from the Levelling Up Fund to help with this proposed development.

It cannot be expected that these sums will reverse the many years of under investment in this region however it is good to see these transformative developments given the green light to proceed. For more information, please see the Place North West article.