With two business cases now signed off, and the funding for those confirmed by Government and funding approved for release in March, work is moving on apace.
The Youth and Retraining Pledge aims to increase skills and life opportunities for young people across the area, raising aspirations, and inspiring the next generation. Recruitment has begun, premises/location identified, and meetings are ongoing to establish the role the College of West Anglia will play in this project.
The Public Realm business case has been shaped by the findings of previous Vision King’s Lynn consultation. It will deliver public realm improvements along a key route from the rail station to the river. Feedback has been sought on proposals for the route, and we have requested input into ideas for the public art element. Finger posts have been purchased along with furniture for the Railway Station. The project group are also working with Norfolk County Arts Service and the Arts Council to submit a bid for additional funding for the public art element.
School of Nursing is almost complete, bringing an exciting new facility and access to previously unavailable nursing training to King’s Lynn. Town Deal Board members will be touring the facility later this month.
The Multi-User Community Hub, Town Centre Repurposing, Riverfront, Guildhall, and Active and Clean Connectivity projects were discussed. Each have several elements to them which also involve external partners. There is still a lot of work to be done to pull the plans and businesses cases together.
Finally, an update on communications and engagement was provided, including forthcoming changes to website, project updates and the upcoming Talk of the Town deal column in the Lynn News.
The next meeting will take a deeper look at some the projects to see how these can be progressed.