£20M For Sheerness Revival Announced

Swale Borough Council has been awarded £20 million to improve health, education, leisure, and employment opportunities in Sheerness on the Isle Of Sheppey.

The Sheerness Revival project has been awarded the money from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

The scheme will expand the existing health centre to provide more and better services from the Healthy Living Centre for local people.

Sheppey College will offer new courses to give young people aged 14-18 on the Island easier access to more training and education opportunities. The conversion of the Master’s House studios to creative workspace will help create and support local jobs.

There will also be new leisure activities such as soft play, adventure golf, TAG active, new café and outdoor gym at Beachfields will give local people and visitors a greater choice of things to do in the town.

The funding will also deliver public realm improvements from the train station and around the leisure complex. Improvements will be made to better connect the high street, train station and seafront to encourage visitors to explore and enjoy more of the town.

Cllr Mike Baldock, Leader of Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “This is fantastic news for Sheerness, and the whole Island, and I’m immensely proud that all the hard work that has been put in by the local community and our officers has paid off. When the criteria for the Levelling Up funding were announced we knew we had to try to get some much-needed investment in Sheerness, and Gordon Henderson has given us nothing but his full support throughout the process, for which we are immensely grateful." 

He went on to add: “We spent a considerable amount of time and effort listening to the local community to put together the best bid possible for the budget allowed – without that support, I don’t think we would be where we are now. This is the largest amount of funding we have ever received, and I am confident it will make a real and lasting difference to local people’s lives and opportunities .It's a major step towards the revival of Sheerness, with benefits that spread across the whole Island.”

Gordon Henderson, member of parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, told SFM News: “I’m delighted to have supported this bid by Swale Council, which will make a great difference to people in and around Sheerness. I have been lobbying the Government hard since the bid was submitted, emphasising how much my constituency needs this added investment, so I am pleased, and grateful, ministers have listened to my pleas. This scheme shows that by working together, we can improve the health, education, and employment prospects for local people, in a meaningful way.I look forward to continuing to work together with Swale Council to make this scheme a success, and to find ways we can build up on this to keep improving the Island for everyone.”

For more information on the bid, visit www.swale.gov.uk/levelling-up.