Forest of Dean secures 'game-changing' £20m grant

The Forest of Dean has secured a "game-changing" £20m regeneration grant.

The district council mounted a bid for the money alongside Hartpury University and College and Cinderford Town Council in June.

On Thursday it was revealed that its application to the government's Levelling Up Fund had been successful.

Council leader Tim Gwilliam said: "This funding will be able to make a real difference to our community."

The money will be used to improve leisure and community facilities, introduce new education opportunities, repurpose vacant buildings and grow the economy, the council said.

Part of this will involve redeveloping the Five Acres site in Coleford as a leisure destination with a centre for sporting excellence, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

The works will also include a satellite site for Hartpury University and Hartpury College, along with a new university innovation, careers and enterprise learning centre at Hartpury.

Some of the funding will be used to help regenerate Cinderford Town Centre which includes bringing vacant buildings back into use.

Mr Gwilliam said the funding will "improve education opportunities, improve leisure and sporting facilities and help to grow our local economy".

"We want to continually be improving the Forest of Dean district and helping to raise aspirations and this investment will play a key role," he added.

"I said many times during the bid process that this was potentially game-changing for the Forest of Dean. Now it will be reality."

Cinderford Town Council's regeneration lead Chris Brown said it represented a "fantastic milestone" in the town's "journey to becoming an amazing place to live, work and play".

Meanwhile, Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper paid tribute to all those involved and said he was "delighted" that their hard work had paid off.

The regeneration will have a focus on being environmentally friendly, with an emphasis on regenerating and adapting existing buildings, using renewable energy and reducing the carbon impact, the district council said.

It is also entitled to £125,000 from the Levelling Up Fund, £85,000 of which will be used to resource the project delivery.

The remaining £40,000 will support the Forest of Dean's active travel strategy, which is seeking to advance cycle route projects.

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