Acomb Front Street set to see funding boost

Issued by City of York Council

An update on the impact of the Economic Infrastructure Fund (EIF), which sets out the projects supported and associated spend, will be presented to City of York Council’s Cabinet at a meeting on the 1 October 2013.

Members will also be asked to agree a request for £30,000 funding for Acomb Front Street, to act as a catalyst for community-led economic development in the area.

Created in April 2012 to support the council’s priority of creating jobs and growing the economy, the EIF has been used to unlock a number of major projects across the city, and progressed projects which otherwise would not have been possible.

The £28m fund has provided the council with a dedicated tool with which to contribute directly toward the city’s economic ambitions as set out in the York Economic Strategy 2011-15. The YES sets out ambitious targets for the city of becoming a top 5 UK and top 10 mid-sized European city economy by 2015.

Projects funded by the EIF to date, sit within key themes identified for the EIF when it was originally established:

• to develop a sustainable local economy
• to ensure the infrastructure is in place to provide an environment for economic growth and job creation
• to facilitate a viable city centre as an asset for attracting high value investment
• to unlock the potential of our communities by connecting them to jobs, skills and enterprise opportunities
• and to facilitate a digital infrastructure and business capacity that would place York as the most digitally connected economies in the UK.

The report to Cabinet highlights the progress in key projects such as the authority’s work to bring Hiscox to the city and the support offered to 24 businesses through the High Growth Business Programme in partnership with Science City York.

It has enabled the authority to increase York’s international presence through events such as the world’s largest property conference MIPIM and trade visits to Nanjing, North America and Dijon.

The council’s work with partners to deliver the Reinvigorate York programme to revitalise York’s city centre public spaces in six key areas including, Parliament Street, King’s Square, Exhibition Square / St Leonard’s Place/ Bootham Bar, Fossgate / Pavement, Duncombe Place / Blake Street and Micklegate.

The refresh of Newgate Market has also been the result of EIF funding, and consultation undertaken with residents and businesses locally continues to help shape the designs for the Market.

Significant progress has been made with EIF in unlocking the infrastructure of the city alongside leveraged DfT funding to provide two new Park and Ride sites, as part of theAccess York project.

Furthermore, the city has made a major investment in the West Yorkshire plus York Transport Fund, bringing major transport decisions to a more local level and giving the city a better chance of getting infrastructure projects that are important to the local economy funded.

Cllr James Alexander, leader of City or York Council said: “The Economic Infrastructure Fund was set up to help the city to create the environment for jobs and the economy to grow.

“It has already delivered on this aim, not only with key infrastructure projects to benefit the city as a whole, but in working to make the city fair for all through our financial inclusion programme, which is ensuring that the city’s most vulnerable residents are able to access necessary support and employment opportunities.”

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