EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Why Regional Renaissance?

Creating sustainable and attractive communities, towns and cities is a key EEDA objective. Regional Renaissance brings together the public and private sector to regenerate some of the most deprived areas in the East of England — creating vibrant new areas for industrial, commercial and cultural projects.

Our achievements:

• focusing on major projects: across the region, EEDA is working with a wide range of partners to deliver landmark regeneration projects that will have a lasting impact on local communities. In Great Yarmouth, the highly visible Eastport outer harbour project has gathered pace during the year — creating a major new deep water port facility for the East of England. The £54 million project — of which EEDA has invested £9 million — is scheduled for completion in September 2008.
  
  Further along the coast, Cranfield Mill is the latest manifestation of the Ipswich waterfront renaissance. This £50million development — kick-started by an EEDA investment in securing land and disused buildings — has been transformed into an attractive residential area for 330 new homes plus leisure and cultural facilities. The landmark OrbisEnergy project — an Enterprise Hub for offshore renewable energy - in Lowestoft also progressed rapidly towards its scheduled opening in Autumn 2008.
  
  A similar transformation is taking shape on the Nene waterfront in Wisbech, where building will begin shortly on a major residential development in this attractive riverside setting. During the year, the Nar Ouse project also progressed rapidly with new homes being built and the planned relocation of the College of West Anglia — with a Kings Lynn campus for Anglia Ruskin University — also underway.
  
  Higher education facilities in Southend, for the University of Essex, and the new University Campus Suffolk, were also completed during the year. There was also considerable progress in re-establishing the Maylands Industrial Estate as a major employment area, following the Buncefield disaster in 2005. The purchase of land adjacent to the site with English Partnerships has also created additional re-location space for businesses which are moving out of the new enlarged exclusion zone around the complex.
  
  It's not just about the built environment. At Wat Tyler Country Park in Basildon, EEDA has collaborated with the RSPB on a major green space leisure facility.
  
  
• developing cultural projects: four major projects are now underway to enrich the cultural life of the region. Construction work at firstsite:newsite, a new visual arts facility for Colchester, is now nearing completion. The new DanceEast project — a key part of the Cranfield Mill re-development in Ipswich — will bring four new dance studios to the town’s waterfront. In Luton, the Carnival Arts Centre — the only facility of its kind in the UK — will also be completed during 2008-9. EEDA is also supporting the move to bring the Royal Opera House’s production facilities to Purfleet in Essex, where a new national skills academy for creative production will be created.