South Ribble Borough Council has announced a £4 million saving on the Leyland Town Deal, reducing the overall cost of the project from £38 million to £34 million.
This comes after the project’s rigorous design stage, where teams have identified several areas where value for money can be made without effecting the overall impact of the project.
Gayle Wootton, Director of Property and Planning at South Ribble Borough Council said, “It’s brilliant that we can deliver the fantastic Leyland Town Deal project under budget.
“Projects like this are ever evolving, and I’m pleased we’ve been able to optimise our resources to deliver the results of the project at lower cost - without jeopardising any elements of the project. So much so, the financial modelling indicates that the project is set to be cost neutral.”
The council has also decided to deliver and manage the 38 homes on the new Quin Steet development, providing high-quality housing stock on an affordable tenure basis.
This will take their overall housing stock portfolio to over 90 homes in the borough all of which are high quality and affordable for local people. They include the 15 homes at the Mckenzie Arms development in Bamber Bridge, and the 75 apartments recently opened Jubilee Gardens extra care facility in Leyland.
The Director of Property and Planning continued, “It’s a proud moment that we’ve opted to take on and manage a further 38 affordable homes. We’re committed to providing affordable homes in the borough and having the homes at Quin Street in our own portfolio can ensure that we can deliver quality housing locally.”
The Leyland Town Deal is a once in a generation investment which will see the refurbishment of Leyland Market, public realm improvements along Hough Lane a new market square and commercial units for new businesses. After securing better value for money across the design stages of the project, the overall cost is set to be £34 million.
More detail about the project can be found at www.leylandtowndeal.com.
ENDS
See the update report as viewed by the council can be found here.