£1.5m for high quality Business Park in Thetford
A project to create one of the largest high quality business parks in Norfolk has received £1.5 m worth of key funding from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).
Breckland Council and Crown Estate have secured funding of £1.5 million from EEDA for the creation of Thetford Enterprise Park, a major 44 acre business park on the A11 at Thetford.
The £1.5m from EEDA is in addition to the investment already committed by the council and Crown Estate, which is required for the multi-million pound project to go ahead and will lead to the creation and safeguarding of around 1,000 jobs in the area. The funding will enable crucial access and servicing works for the site and will promote further private sector investment in buildings and construction and commercial space in the vicinity. The total future investment is likely to be in the region of £100 million and the business park is seeking to attract advanced manufacturing and engineering businesses to the area.
Thetford Enterprise Park is part of the Council’s Rural Enterprise Valley (Rev Project) based in Thetford. Considerable interest is already building from potential occupiers, leading to the potential for a top-notch hotel on the site and construction could start as early as this autumn.
Council Leader William Nunn said, “Breckland Council and our joint project partner, The Crown Estate, have been working tirelessly on this project for a number of years, public intervention and leadership is essential to the success of challenging projects of this kind. We welcome EEDA’ s announcement of major funding today. It will mean new jobs and prosperity for the whole of Norfolk and the East of England and will bolster the county’s reputation as a centre of innovation and high- tech engineering. The Thetford Enterprise Park will also be crucial in supporting the planned future housing and population growth in Breckland by creating quality employment and investment in the local economy.”
Steve Cox, Executive Director for Strategy and Development at EEDA, said:
“The Thetford Enterprise Park is one of a number of major investments by EEDA in Norfolk aimed at strengthening the advanced engineering and manufacturing base in the county. With The Thetford Enterprise Park at one end and the Hethel Engineering Centre at the other, this engineering “corridor” will attract businesses, create jobs and boost the economy of the county and the region.”
Nick Harper,Head of Rural Asset Management and Development at the Crown Estate, said,
“We are very pleased to be working in partnership with Breckland Council and now EEDA to deliver this innovative project. The funding announced today means that it can go ahead – securing jobs and the area’s economic vitality.”
Thetford Enterprise Park represents the largest new business development for the town in recent decades and is likely to be the catalyst for further planned growth and development along the A11 corridor from Thetford to Norwich.