Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership secures £15.5m from the Government’s Getting Building Fund for three major schemes.

Electric buses, a testing facility for new medical diagnostics, and support for a £70m regeneration scheme will all go ahead in Cheshire thanks to a £15.5m cash injection.

Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has secured the cash from the Government’s Getting Building Fund and will be spent on three infrastructure projects designed to accelerate economic growth in the region. They are:

• The creation of an all-electric bus fleet depot on land owned by Warrington Council. The cash will go towards the extra costs of making the depot suitable for an all-electric bus fleet and would be powered by electricity generated by the Warrington Council’s investments in solar farms.
• A new Validation Centre of Excellence at Alderley Park in Cheshire East. The centre will focus on the testing of new diagnostics, biomarkers, and therapeutics for highly infectious pathogens, including respiratory viruses such as COVID-19.
• A £5m drainage tunnel to support the £70 million Northgate regeneration scheme in Chester. This will help to cover the additional costs associated with providing sufficient capacity within the Chester’s drainage system to allow development on a number of key sites and enable the project to be completed by November 2021.

Clare Hayward, chair of Cheshire and Warrington LEP, said: “We are delighted to have been successful with our bid and these three projects will make a significant difference at this challenging time.

“These projects will support our vision of healthy, sustainable and inclusive economic growth and will have an impact on the quality of life, improving infrastructure and creating employment and training opportunities.”