MP welcomes £3.5 million Government funding for Queenborough & Rushenden regeneration

1st February 2018
MP welcomes £3.5 million Government funding for
Queenborough & Rushenden regeneration

Local MP, Gordon Henderson, has welcomed the announcement today of £3.5 million that will speed up delivery of the Queenborough and Rushenden regeneration project that has been delayed for years.

The government has announced £866 million investment in local housing projects to help get up to 200,000 extra homes built. In Sheppey this could deliver 210 homes by 2022, and 990 homes in total.

This funding will support local work that will make housing development on brownfield sites viable and get much-needed homes built more quickly. Without this financial support these projects would struggle to go ahead or take years for work to begin.

Mr Henderson commented:

‘It’s great news that the Government is using its Marginal Viability Fund to provide funding to the Queenborough and Rushenden regeneration scheme.

‘I want to see brownfield sites used for housing development, rather than cement over more green spaces. This particular scheme has been on the table for years, and part of the site is already being built on. However, development of the rest of the site stalled because the cost of mitigating the land made it unattractive to developers.

‘Working with Swale Borough Council I lobbied successive housing ministers to get funds to ensure all the site could be developed. I am delighted that we were successful and full development of the site, which will see another two hundred homes delivered by 2022 and almost a thousand homes in total.

‘The scheme will also provide a new school and marine related activities.’

This government is committed to building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s so more people are able buy a home of their own. The funding announced today is the first wave of funding from the £5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund which is part of our comprehensive programme to fix the broken housing market that has left too many struggling to afford a place of their own.

This latest investment will fund key local infrastructure projects including new roads, cycle paths, flood defences and land remediation work, all essential ahead of building the homes.