Levelling Up The Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean Levelling Up Fund Board meeting

The Forest of Dean has been awarded £20 million from the Government’s Levelling Up fund.

The successful bid is a huge achievement involving partnership between Hartpury University as well as Cinderford Town Council and the District Council, liaising with my office and I throughout the process.

I’ve been pleased to do my bit in helping to deliver this money, personally meeting with Ministers including Rishi Sunak, the then Chancellor, over many months to persuade them that this project is 100% worth the investment. I’m delighted it paid off.

It’s an ambitious, exciting project that will deliver a new leisure & community hub at Five Acres, Coleford and a new Innovation, Careers and Enterprise Learning Centre at Hartpury University & College, as well as a regeneration of Cinderford Town Centre.

Good progress on all three portions of the project has already been made and I have been taking a keen interest in how it is getting on, paying a number of visits to view work on the sites and attending quarterly meetings with Forest of Dean Levelling Up Fund Programme Board.

News

Levelling Up Fund Update

Today I attended the Levelling Up Fund - Quarterly Programme Board meeting at The Growth Hub in Mitcheldean.

I joined representatives from the Forest of Dean District Council, Cinderford Town Council and Local Councillors to discuss how the individual projects are progressing.

Levelling Up Fund Update Video

On Friday, I attended the quarterly Levelling Up Fund Programme Board Meeting at The Growth Hub at Vantage Point in Mitcheldean.

I was pleased to hear that progress was being made in all areas of investment including Hartpury University, Five Acres and Cinderford Town Centre.

FoD Levelling Up Fund Meeting

This morning I attended a further meeting of the Forest of Dean’s Levelling Up Fund Project Board, held at the Growth Hub in Vantage Point Business Village, Mitcheldean.

Levelling Up Skills

The Government’s recently announced Levelling Up White Paper contained several key missions, medium-term ambitions which highlight the most important areas where the Government believes more progress is needed over the next decade. 

Levelling Up Progress

Last Friday, I attended the first meeting of the Forest of Dean’s Levelling Up Fund Project Board held at the Forest of Dean Growth Hub at Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean. 

New Forest of Dean Growth Hub

On Friday I had the pleasure of opening the Forest of Dean Growth Hub at Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean. This new site, a flagship project of GFirst LEP and part of Gloucestershire’s Growth Hub Network, will enable local businesses to grow.

Funding for the Forest

The Forest of Dean has benefitted from two separate pots of Government funding, boosting local bus services and being prioritised to bid for the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund.

Budget 2021 Benefits The Forest of Dean

Throughout the pandemic, I have been in regular contact with local businesses across the Forest of Dean – visiting them in person (when such a thing was allowed) or meeting them virtually over video calls.