An additional £1.5m is on it’s way to help finance building the new Ilfracombe Watersports Centre following a successful funding bid by North Devon Council. In August the council was invited by The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSW LEP) to develop a business case to bid for additional funding from the Government’s Getting Building Fund for the project. The watersports centre was selected as a suitable project because it is ‘shovel ready’ with the council being able to demonstrate that it would create jobs, support economic recovery across the South West and that spending on the project would be complete by March 2022. Now that funding has been confirmed contractors have been invited to tender for the project. Pending a successful tender process it is hoped work will start on site by April 2021 with completion of the project approximately 10 months later. Lead Member for Economic Development at North Devon Council, Councillor Malcolm Prowse, says: “It’s fantastic news for the Ilfracombe Watersports Centre project that our funding bid was successful. Our project team have worked tirelessly on the bid so I’m delighted this hard work has paid off and we can now get going on this project. Once completed the watersports centre will be a real investment and asset for Ilfracombe as well as a welcome boost for the North Devon economy and tourism. We’re so lucky here in North Devon to be surrounded by fantastic coastline so the new centre will be a real opportunity for our residents to get out there and make the most of it from the water.”
Chair of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, Karl Tucker, says “The HotSW LEP’s Getting Building Fund aims to support ready-to-go projects that will deliver new jobs and contribute to our area’s post-COVID recovery. We are pleased to have agreed just over £1.5 million from this fund towards the building of the new Ilfracombe Watersports Centre, which will support the local economic recovery, create jobs and provide a great new facility for both tourists and residents to benefit from.” Residents can stay up-to-date with news and developments on the project by following the council’s facebook @northdevoncouncil and twitter @ndevoncouncil pages.