The Homes & Communities Agency and Telford & Wrekin Council have now signed a contract for funding for Southwater which will transform the area into a major regional leisure and business attraction.

Public sector partners now have a £29 million public sector war-chest to kickstart the wider Southwater regeneration which will provide a living heart to this part of the town.

This £29 million pot will be used to fund preparation work on the site to create plots ready for development and upgrade services including gas, water and electricity. The other main partner in this is Telford & Wrekin Council who are committing £15.5m million to the scheme.

The Southwater development is a partnership between Telford & Wrekin Council, the Southwater Event Group and the Homes and Communities Agency. It will transform an area of the town centre which runs from Telford shopping centre to the International Centre

As well as enabling work, this initial phase will deliver high quality public spaces including a new Southwater Square and Main Street and deliver new community facilities including a Learning & Media Centre.

The HCA has identified the Southwater scheme, which includes 330 new homes within the Southwater area, as one of its key priorities in driving forward the building of new homes in the town for the first time, making this a living centre

The new Southwater will also include office space, two new hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes and shops, a leisure hub with a space for a leisure pool and multi screen cinema – creating a vibrant night time economy around a pedestrianised Main Street.

There will also be community facilities including a medical centre and a new Meeting Point House.

Earlier this month works began with contractors clearing the site of trees in preparation for major earthworks which will start before Christmas and will prepare the site for buildings.

Council leader Andrew Eade said: “I am delighted that the HCA now put their funding into the scheme. The vital enabling works are now moving forward and in just a few weeks, people will see some very visible changes and major activity on the site.

“Regenerating this area is something that has been talked about for many years, to the point where some doubted it would ever happen. Now, thanks to the partnership we have together built, it is.”

Nicola Marshall, Head of Housing for the Homes and Communities Agency West Midlands, said: “We are delighted to be supporting this project to transform the Southwater area and enable this development.

“It demonstrates our close working relationship with the Council and our commitment to allowing decisions to made at a local level, in this case by the borough’s Housing, Regeneration and Partnership Board, in order to ensure delivery on key objectives such as new homes.”