£1.94 million of government funding has been awarded to enable us to start extending the Bexhill Enterprise Park to the north-eastern side of Combe Valley Way. This has the potential to more than double the size of the existing business park, accommodating more local jobs.

The funding will enable us to build new site roads to facilitate the development of office, light industrial and manufacturing premises in an area we’re now calling ‘Bexhill Enterprise Park North’.

The site roads will come off Haven Brook Avenue (formerly know as the North Bexhill Access Road), which we opened last week to connect Combe Valley Way and Ninfield Road and provide access to the additional development land.

We gained outline planning consent for a total of 360,000 sq ft (33,500 sqm) of business premises on Bexhill Enterprise Park North in May 2018.

A planning application for the site roads has already been submitted to Rother District Council, along with an application for 86,000 sq ft (8,000 sqm) of light industrial units on Bexhill Enterprise Park North from local developer Westcott Leach. Westcott Leach has a successful track record of development in the area including industrial premises on the Eastside Business Park in Newhaven and the Swallow Business Park in Hailsham.

Wescott Leach intends to start construction of the industrial units as we build the site roads.

The £1.94 million grant is from the Government’s Local Growth Fund. We and our East Sussex partners have been awarded the funding by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), after it assessed the business case for the site roads.

Alongside the construction of Haven Brook Avenue, we also recently installed a strategic water main and electricity supply to support the business and housing developments to follow in this area.

To the south of Combe Valley Way, the existing Bexhill Enterprise Park South incorporates Glovers House (fully occupied by Park Holidays UK), High Weald House (offices soon to be completed) plus sites capable of accommodating up to 195,000 sq ft of further premises.

The overall development of the Bexhill Enterprise Park, along with plans for extensive new housing, is part of the 247-acre (100-hectare) urban extension to Bexhill set out in the Rother Local Plan of 2006.