£70m investment in Biggleswade will fund new school places, railway transport interchange and replacement bridge

A contract worth £70million will be used to fund a whole host of benefits - including power, education and rail and road infrastructure - for Biggleswade.

The funding will secure:

*new secondary school places

*an integrated transport interchange at the railway station

*a replacement bridge to the north of Biggleswade where the Green Wheel Bridleway crosses the East Coast Mainline for people, cyclists and horse riders

New state-of-the-art power infrastructure will more than double the amount of electricity available to the area. According to mthe council, not only will this support the increased housing but also business growth and jobs. It also means Biggleswade can move towards more sustainable energy supplies and residents can easily add high demand power use, like electrical charging points for vehicles, to their homes.

Central Bedfordshire Council - working with partners including Biggleswade Town Council - signed the contracts for central government funding via Homes England.

Councillor Kevin Collins, executive member for planning and regeneration at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to sign on the dotted line.

“Securing funding for vital services and infrastructure demonstrates our commitment to planning for, and delivering, sustainable growth. During the Local Plan consultations, we heard loud and clear from the public that they want to have the right schools, facilities, health services and transport links in place ahead of the houses: that’s exactly what we’ve done here, and why we’ve worked so hard to secure this money.”

Homes England’s director of infrastructure grants, Sophie White, said: “Our multimillion-pound funding in the Biggleswade infrastructure will resolve much-needed capacity improvements to the electrical power network as well as education, road and rail infrastructure."

The Housing Infrastructure Fund is administered and monitored by the government’s housing agency, Homes England.