Kingston Council will receive £2m from the Mayor of London’s regeneration funds to invest in the town centre.
The cash, from the Mayor’s Outer London Fund will be invested in key projects within the town’s centre over the next two years.
Councillor Derek Osbourne, Leader of the Council, has labelled this as an important step for the market regeneration. “The signing of the grant agreement with the Mayor is a crucial milestone as it means we can now start fulfilling our vision for the Ancient Market Area. We have worked alongside Tonkin Liu and JMP Consultants to produce a blueprint of how we think the Market Place and surrounding areas could benefit from the funding.”
The grant will cover a range of improvements for the Ancient Market, including paving, street furniture and lighting, as well as new stalls for the market traders (the design of which the Council has recently put up for tender).
London Mayor, Boris Johnson said: ‘We’ve listened to what local people want and I think it is fantastic news that work is advancing to invest in Kingston’s town centre. We need vibrant, bustling high streets and kick-starting growth in town centres such as Kingston’s is what my Outer London Fund is doing across the capital.
Other schemes are also hoping to benefit from the grant, including the creation of a heritage project by All Saints Church and Creative Youth, who hope to convert the Bishop’s Palace car park into a flexible outdoor performance space.
