Latest news with #UrbanSplash
BBC News
19-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Windermere Gateway development gets £12m for roads and housing
A major project planned for a popular town has received more than £12m worth of funding to deliver roads and housing needed for its Windermere Gateway Project involves the transformation of the Orrest Head Farm site, within the Lake District National Park, for tourism, employment and housing objections, plans were approved and now it has received a £9.95m grant from Homes England to deliver highways works, with an additional £2.5m from Westmorland and Furness Council to build affordable leader Jonathan Brook said the grant would allow it to deliver affordable homes in "one of the most unaffordable areas" of the area. He said it was a "complex project, with many interdependent parts"."It will pave the way for a significant number of affordable homes in one of the most unaffordable areas of Westmorland and Furness, particularly impacted by second homes and short-term holiday accommodation, which puts further strain on housing provision for local residents," he project, which is being built on land owned by the National Trust, aims to tackle traffic flow, redevelop Windermere's railway station, build homes and provide employment opportunities. It forms a partnership between National Trust, the Lake District National Park Authority, Westmorland and Furness Council and housing developer Urban Splash, which, the council says, will work with a registered social housing provider to bring forward affordable include 242 new homes on the site, with 133 proposed to be affordable following the £2.5m grant from the council's Affordable Housing council says the homes will be made available for permanent occupancy - not second homes or holiday lets. Further details are set to be confirmed in an outline planning application, due to be submitted by Urban Splash later this year. The £9.95m Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Funding from Homes England will go towards highways works for the project, which were approved by the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) development control committee in documents submitted to LDNPA said works to the A591 and Thwaites Lane would "unlock" the council said if the application for housing was not granted, then the Homes England-funded highways works would not proceed. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Wales Online
27-06-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Nearly £3m council funding has been approved for this new office block in Swansea
Nearly £3m council funding has been approved for this new office block in Swansea The aim is start work in spring or early summer next year An image of the office building which will go up between St Mary's Church, Swansea and the new multi-storey car park off Albert Row (Image: Swansea Council ) Council chiefs in Swansea have committed nearly £3 million towards another new office block in the city centre. The five-storey building has planning permission and will take shape on land between St Mary's Church and the new multi-storey car park off Albert Row. It has always been described as being a public sector office building, or hub, but private sector interest will also be sought now for some of the office space. The ground floor will have commercial units while public sector organisations, and potentially some private sector ones, will occupy the four floors above. Cabinet members heard more about the project at a meeting on June 26 and agreed to allocate £2.95 million to take the project forward, including procuring a contractor, although the actual construction cost won't be known for some time. It emerged that the council will only occupy one floor of the new building instead of two as had been proposed, but this will still enable it to finally decant all staff from the seafront Civic Centre. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here Council leader Rob Stewart said the authority was in discussions with the Welsh and UK Governments about the potential relocation of some of their staff to the new block. This is where the office block will be built (Image: Richard Youle ) Article continues below The council has previously commissioned a new office block on The Kingsway - 71/72 The Kingsway - which is due to open shortly, while new office space has also been created by a private sector firm on the corner of Princess Way and St Mary Street. Two tenants have been announced for 71/72 The Kingsway - travel company TUI and workspace provider IWG Ltd - which will occupy just over a quarter of the five-storey building. Cllr Stewart said high quality office and mixed-use space was "hugely important if we are to continue to regenerate the city centre" and that "strong demand is building" for 71/72 The Kingsway. The new block is part of a wider regeneration project planned for the surrounding area, known as Swansea Central, in collaboration with a council development partner called Urban Splash. If all goes to plan for the authority and Urban Splash there'll be new shops, restaurants and walkways, as well as the office block, connecting to the city centre at one end and the new Copr Bay development at the other. The Copr Bay development comprises the new but unfinished multi-storey car park, flats, commercial units, yellow pedestrian bridge across Oystermouth Road and the Swansea Building Society Arena. A report before cabinet said the aim was to finalise design work for the office block this year, appoint a contractor and break ground in April, May or June 2026 and complete the building in October, November or December 2027. It added there were already interested parties in the office space. Cabinet has previously allocated £2.68 million in pre-development and other costs to move the project forward. Deputy council leader Andrea Lewis seconded the report. "It has been a huge amount of work to get us to this stage and it's great to see this report here today," she said. Article continues below
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Architect aims to return '1960s vibe' to iconic Plymouth building
The new architect appointed to transform a landmark derelict building into 140 new homes is aiming to bring back the "1960s vibe".The Civic Centre in Plymouth, which was first opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1962, has been empty since council staff left the premises in 2015.A previous plan to renovate the 14-storey building was abandoned and Plymouth City Council bought the site back from developers Urban Splash in 2024 for £ City Council now has £20m from Homes England to start work on the site and has appointed Building Design Partnership (BDP) to come up with a new plan to rejuvenate the building which has been Grade II listed since 2007. Plymouth City College struck a deal with the council in 2024 to set up a campus on the bottom two floors of the Braund, architect director at BDP, said the building offered an incredible said: "It's an amazing urban loft-style living with exposed surfaces. That's our ambition that we'd like to achieve with this building - a really unique product for Plymouth."There are amazing views out over the city and we want to capitalise on all of that 1960s vibe this building has - we just need to bring it back out."BDP has worked on previous Plymouth projects including the University of Plymouth's Roland Levinsky building and the Theatre Royal regeneration project completed in 2013. The Civic Centre was a central part of the rebuilding of the city centre following the devastating bombing across the city in the Second World Lowry, city centre champion at Plymouth City Council, said the Civic Centre was "so important to our regeneration story".He said: "I think we can give people some confidence. We've got a very ambitious programme to bring this building back to life."We've now got the right architect in place, we've got City College on the ground floors of this building and we're bringing it forward for residential opportunities in the coming years."A new planning application is expected to be submitted later this year as detail from the original application has on stripping out the building is continuing and the council said it could take between five and six years to complete the redevelopment.
