Members of Stevenage First, which includes local business and political leaders, have committed to the transformation of Stevenage, as regeneration is brought together for the first time at district and county level with the business community after jointly signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Stevenage First is made up of Stevenage Borough Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership. Together they are responsible for driving forward over £1bn of development across six major opportunity areas in the town centre.
Andrew Percival, Stevenage First chairman, said: "We want Stevenage Town Centre to be a leader and innovator for urban regeneration. Today marks a major milestone in our shared ambitions to create a 21st century destination for residents, business and future generations and proof of our formal commitment to partnership working.”
The masterplan includes a new rail station, 3,600 new homes, 65,000 sqm of office space, 24,000 sqm of retail, four star hotels and a new community hub.
Neville Reyner, CBE DL, Chairman of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce said: "Stevenage is pioneering innovation in science, pharmaceuticals and many other fields and is ideally placed to gain from its close proximity to the Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Oxford corridor and within the Golden Triangle of research and investment stretching from Cambridge, to Oxford and London. There is now an opportunity to build on this for the town and the wider county which we are ready to seize."
Hertfordshire LEP helped to secure £15m of Government funding for Stevenage First to develop the Masterplan. The LEP works to increase the economic prosperity of the county. Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce has more than 1,000 business members across the county.
The signing of the MoU sets out Stevenage First's role to promote and co-ordinate development and drive delivery through agreed programmes. The next step will be plans for the complete refurbishment of Stevenage train station and opportunities for development on related sites.
