£20m Levelling Up funding for Golden Valley secured

Cheltenham Borough Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities to secure the £20m of funding provisionally allocated to the Golden Valley Development in the third round of the department’s Levelling Up Fund.

The MOU will be formally ratified and accepted at the council’s cabinet meeting on 23 July, paving the way for the council to start drawing down the funding to help deliver the first phase of this unique development – the construction of the National Cyber Innovation Centre.

Gareth Edmundson, chief executive at Cheltenham Borough Council said: “Making progress to secure this funding is excellent news. The Golden Valley Development is moving forward at pace and the £20m Levelling Up Funding helps build on the significant investment already made by the council to deliver this pioneering project and to transform west Cheltenham into an internationally recognised tech and security community with the National Cyber Innovation Centre at its heart.

“The Golden Valley Development will build on our strength as a town and helps to deliver jobs, housing and prosperity to Cheltenham.”

Matt Bellshaw, director and head of region at HBD added: "Securing this funding is a significant milestone for Golden Valley. This investment will help us achieve our aim of creating a vibrant and innovative community. We are seeing strong interest across the board in Golden Valley from occupier businesses, including startups and large enterprises, as well as academia. We look forward to working closely with all stakeholders to bring this transformative project to life."