£10m boost for Sheffield City Region developments, including major road-widening

A cinema and restaurant development in Doncaster, a pioneering food research centre in Sheffield, efforts to brighten up the streets around Sheffield's hotel district, and new commercial units in Bassetlaw will also benefit from the funding.

The investment was approved today at a meeting of the Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority, chaired by the region's mayor Dan Jarvis.

A total of £3.8m was approved for improvements to the A61 Sheffield inner ring road between Corporation Street and Bridge Street, where a new lane will be added in both directions.

The second phase of Sheffield's '˜Grey to Green' scheme, which will include new cycle routes, extra greenery and public art around Castlegate and Exchange Street, where many of the city's largest hotels are located, will get £3.32m.

Sheffield Hallam University's National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering in Attercliffe, which workswith businesses on projects including creating healthier meals and cutting waste, secured more than £600,000.

Rotherham Council got £1.6m for the second phase of the Century Business Park, which will create 100 new jobs, and Bassetlaw District Council was awarded £135,000 towards four commercial units in Harrison Drive, Langold.

Doncaster Council was granted £635,000 for its cinema and restaurant development, beside the Cast theatre, having previously failed in a bid for funding towards the project from Sheffield City Region.

The money comes from the government-financed Local Growth Fund (LGF), which was set up to boost the local economy and make areas more attractive places in which to live and work.

Announcing the funding, Mr Jarvis said: 'This is an exciting time for us in the Sheffield City Region, with hugely significant investments from world-leading companies putting us firmly on the international map.

"It is also important that whilst we're developing these cutting-edge facilities in our Global Innovation Corridor, we are also putting in place the development projects that our communities need: roads, homes, public spaces, shops and offices - so that we can improve our region and make it fit for the 21st century.

"That's why funding pots such as LGF, devolved to decision-makers at a regional level, are so important in supporting our communities to grow and thrive."