Cabinet members will review a detailed update of the Simplification Pathfinder Pilot Programme when they meet on Thursday 24 July.
This is the government funded £51m Regeneration programme which aims to create jobs and boost the local economy through a comprehensive programme of 15 ambitious projects being delivered within Margate and Ramsgate.
The Cabinet report, now available to view on the council’s website, includes details on each of the projects in terms of their progress, timeline and spend to date.
It also notes that following a request to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the deadline for completion has been extended by a year to 31 March 2027.
Since 2019, Thanet District Council has been successfully awarded capital funding from three key MHCLG programmes – Future High Street Fund, Town Deal and the Levelling Up Fund.
Margate Town Deal – £22.2m – to develop the creative productions and skills, enhance coastal wellbeing, create highway and public realm improvements, and to improve our heritage assets.
Projects include:
- Access Walpole Bay
- Active Movement and Connections
- Margate Creative Land Trust
- Margate Theatre Royal
- Margate Winter Gardens
- Skatepark
- Testing New Uses: Walpole Bay beach facilities
- Testing New Uses: participation and skills programme
Margate Levelling Up Programme – £6.3m – to deliver a digital campus in Margate High Street by East Kent Colleges Group.
Ramsgate Levelling Up Programme – £19.8m – focusing on projects to enhance the Port, Harbour and providing places for local people to engage and develop skills to access the new job opportunities being created in these areas.
Projects include:
- Clock House
- Green Campus
- Fishing Facility
- Newington Community Centre
- Pier Yard
Future High Street Funds – £2.7m – to provide a creative workspace and improved highways in Ramsgate.
Projects include:
- Highways Improvements (S278 and Pier Yard)
- Creative Workspace and Access to Opportunities – Broad Street
Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Property, Cllr Ruth Duckworth said: “We’re proud to deliver such a comprehensive programme of projects in our district. Securing this level of funding is significant and will bring much needed opportunities to enhance skills, boost employment and improve our public spaces and buildings too.
“This detailed progress report provides an open and transparent overview of the programme and sets out the range of complexities and challenges that we have faced with delivering such a broad range of property, construction, planning, service delivery and partnership activity. Especially when factoring in the required criteria and tight timescales set by the government.
“External factors such as a significant increase in inflation (post-Covid) – in the region of 20-30% – and soaring costs of materials and labour have meant the reevaluation and adjustment of project designs throughout this process. This rescoping has in turn required the reallocation of funding across the programme to ensure the projects we’ve committed to, can be delivered. All of this takes time to complete and is something councils across the country, working on similarly funded projects, have needed to tackle.
“As the report sets out, we’re now getting to the critical delivery of the programme and residents will already have started to see the building out of schemes such as Margate Digital, Newington Community Centre and the Margate Creative Land Trust’s first building. We will continue to work hard to see all the projects through to completion for the benefit of our residents.“
