A CASH boost has been announced to get a major Highbridge housing project off the ground and bring developers on board.

A three-year £36.6million Government ‘Growth Deal’ investment for Sedgemoor has been ann-ounced this week with the district securing a massive 40% of the total of £92million on offer for the whole region.

As part of the huge deal for Sedgemoor, £4.3million will be lent to Barratt Homes for the Brue Farm site in Highbridge to help the development of 492 new homes with a new school.

The plans were first submitted in 2011, but the recession has hampered progress at the site while housebuilders decide which projects are viable in difficult times.

The money being distributed by the Homes & Community Agency is 90% secured with a further assessment due before the cash deal is finalised.

Burnham and Highbridge Mayor Martin Cox said: “It’s really amazing, exciting to know we’re going to get a sizeable proportion of this funding. 

“The Brue Farm development will take several years to complete, and will bring money into Highbridge and benefit Market Street.

“It will create much-needed jobs.”

A further £1.5million of ‘Growth Deal’ cash will be used to bring forward improvements against flooding on the A361 near Middlezoy, including £0.5million in 2015-16.

In total, the ‘Growth Deal’ for the Heart of the South-West included £92million of new money over the funding period, and £130.3 million overall.

Sedgemoor secured roughly 40% of the new money on offer and 28% of the total.

The district received more than Plymouth (£22.2million), and more than Exeter (£11.2 million) and Taunton (£10.2 million) combined.

It also compared well more widely with one of the largest allocations in the South-West.

The ‘Growth Deal’ in Sedgemoor includes £13.1million to take forward a scheme to widen the River Sowy (including £3.6 million in 2015-16).

The river runs from Monks Leaze clyce, a mile north-west of Langport River bridge, to the Kings Sedgemoor Drain.

There will also £5million of new investment for Bridgwater College in 2015-16 to take forward
three new capital investment projects, and £6.5 million in Hinkley Point Training Activities, including
£3million in 2015-16.

There will also £1.9million to bring forward re-development of the Huntworth roundabout at
junction 24 of the M5 in 2015-16, giving improved access to the town and unblocking issues
around the development of the Bridgwater Gateway.