£2.65m of funding enables expansion of major employment site along A11 corridor
Aerial view of Snetterton Park and Heath. Picture: Breckland Council - Credit: Archant
The expansion of a major employment site which has the potential to employ hundreds of people can now go ahead following a £2.65m funding award.
New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership chief executive Chris Starkie. Picture: Angela Sharpe - Credit: Angela Sharpe Photography
The 68.1 hectare site at Snetterton Heath, off the A11, has the potential to create 1,700 new jobs and safeguard 1,450 more in the key Cambridge to Norwich Tech Corridor.
However a lack of power to the site has meant that its full potential has never been realised.
Earlier this month an application to build a new £3.4m electrical substation - to provide additional power to the employment land - was approved.
The location of the proposed susbtation. Picture: Chaplin Farrant - Credit: Archant
MORE - 1,700 new jobs along A11 corridor to be created thanks to new £3.4m substation
And now the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has agreed to provide £2.65m through its capital growth programme, which will allow the district council to implement the Snetterton Heath Employment Area Electricity Upgrade Scheme.
Chris Starkie, chief executive of New Anglia LEP, said: “This investment will allow for existing businesses to expand and attract new employers to the area, helping towards our ambition of creating 88,000 new jobs across Norfolk and Suffolk by 2036.
The Snetterton Renewable Energy Plant officially opens.Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2017 - Credit: Sonya Duncan
“Boosting the power capability at Snetterton Heath will unlock the site’s potential for growth and, importantly, lead to the creation of new jobs.
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“This is a really positive development for the local area.”
The substation will be built adjacent to the Snetterton Renewable Energy Plant. It is hoped it will provide an additional six-mega-volt amps (MVA) to Snetterton Heath.
This would be in addition to the site’s existing 3MVA - which is currently at full capacity.
Councillor Adrian Stasiak, Breckland Council’s executive member for growth and commercialisation, said: “We are delighted to have been allocated this funding by the New Anglia LEP.
“This funding, in addition to the money we have already secured, will mean that we are in a position to implement our plans to improve the infrastructure at Snetterton Heath, which will unlock the site and support the creation of up to 1,700 new jobs.”
Breckland Council’s members will be asked to formally accept the funding at an upcoming meeting.
A further 20 hectares of land on the site is proposed for allocation and it is estimated to have the capacity for 200,000sqm of employment space.
