Frontline Services To Be Boosted By Business Park’s Success

Frontline council services across Leicestershire are to get a boost thanks to cash generated from commercial property investments.

Leicestershire County Council has earned over £7m in the past year from developments including Airfield Business Park in Market Harborough, where eight of the 12 units are now let and two more are under offer.

The development near the Innovation Centre, off Harborough Road, which opened last December, has created 200 jobs.

The money will go towards fixing and preventing potholes, delivering social care for adults and children, and other frontline services, helping to mitigate some of the demand pressures facing critical services.

Airfield Business Park

Councillor Byron Rhodes, cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “It is very encouraging to see that our portfolio of properties is thriving and performing better than the industry average.

“This continued good performance allows us to fund important services at this particularly difficult time with Covid-19 putting additional burdens on our finances.

“Our approach of bringing new life to old commercial sites and building new workspaces is creating hundreds of jobs and boosting the economy.

“Crucially, it means we can invest money into vital frontline services, maintaining our roads, bringing down the inconvenience to people who use them, and explore how we can bolster social care services, supporting vulnerable people.”