£1million released to get major Corby town centre improvements off the ground

The Government has released £995,000 to help get four major Corby schemes off the ground.

The cash will be used to cover the initial stages of development for a new sixth form building, a community building, a cycle route between the town centre and the station and a scheme to use the latest technology to attract investors to the town.

In 2019, the Government asked 101 towns to bid for cash from a central pot to stimulate growth and regeneration. A board was formed to look at where the cash was most needed.

Earlier this year it was announced that Corby had won £19.9m to take forward four projects, all in and around the town centre.

Now it has been revealed that five per cent of the money - totaling £995,000 - will be released by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to North Northamptonshire Council's capital fund so that initial work can begin.

Today (Thursday, November 18) NNC's executive approved the funds, which will cover the cost of design work, feasibility studies and business case development (including accurate financial projections) for each project.

Leader of North Northants Council, Cllr Jason Smithers, said: “It’s welcome news that a percentage of the funds will be released so that we can get things moving in the right direction regarding the Corby Town Investment Plan. This funding will support the development of business cases and get them to a suitable standard, whilst also allowing us to progress to the next stage of this process.”

Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration, Cllr David Brackenbury, said: “The objective of the Town Fund is to drive the economic regeneration of towns for long-term economic and productivity growth and with the early release of these funds, we can really get moving and make some positive progress.”

The projects that are being considered are:

• Sixth Form College at Chisholm House - Chisholm House will be re-purposed and renovated to be a carbon neutral building using the latest innovative technologies to bring the building to the heart of the town centre. It will be designed to attract 16- to 18-year-old, young adults from the surrounding Northamptonshire area.

• Multi-use Building – this project at the unused area between the car park and Elizabeth Street is for a multi-purpose facility to provide permanent new accommodation for a modern arts and community centre, as well as meet the identified demand for creative, media and the third sector uses. The site is an important gateway to the east of the town centre and will balance the significant investment to the west (including the Corby Cube).

• Corby Station Links – this scheme will look to improve the public realm and provide an attractive and safe pedestrian/cycle connections between the town centre, Tresham College, and the train station along the southern route of Oakley Road. It will connect the station directly with the Chisholm House and the Multi-use Building projects and make a significant contribution to the active healthy travel agenda and help to reduce congestion and emissions across Corby.

• Smart and Connected Corby – This project seeks to establish Corby as a smart and green town centre through harnessing connected and clean technologies. Using the latest connected and smart technology will enable the council to monitor flows of pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, shoppers, and visitors to understand the present and predict the future and, ultimately, attract investors to the area.