Todmorden Town Deal Board Celebrates Major Milestone As Construction Of £3.8M Enterprise Centre Starts At Ferney Lee, Todmorden
Todmorden Town Deal Board is delighted to announce a major milestone in its £17.5M investment programme, with construction beginning on the new community-owned and led £3.8M enterprise centre. Through a partnership between Connect Housing and Calder Valley Community Land Trust (CVCLT), an additional investment of £4m has been secured to add affordable rented homes to the project at Ferney Lee in Todmorden.
The Ferney Lee project will create 23 affordable rented offices and workspaces alongside 19 affordable rented homes, with parking, easy access to Todmorden town centre and transport links, and adjacent to the wonderful green spaces and West Yorkshire views that the market town is renowned for.
The project is one of the key elements of the Todmorden Town Deal programme that aims to boost the local economy by creating opportunities for enterprise, skills development and an emerging pipeline for new jobs in the town.
The new Enterprise Centre will offer much-needed professional, high-quality space for micro and small to medium businesses, whether start-ups, freelancers wanting to move out of homeworking or more established small to medium enterprises looking to grow.
The new homes will be built to high standards of energy efficiency, following PassivHaus principles. They will be offered at social rents – substantially below local market rates – to people with a connection with, or need to live in, the Todmorden area.
Sustainability is at the heart of the designs for the new building with excellent insulation, low energy and renewable energy. Both offices and homes will be built to very high environmental standards, ensuring low running costs, as well as efficient water management through drainage systems and natural drainage features that support anti-flood measures.
The Enterprise Centre at Ferney Lee is part of Todmorden Town Deal’s wider programme to support the development of a greener, safer market town that enables people and businesses to succeed in challenging times.
The programme is creating opportunities for better health and wellbeing, learning and skills development, as well as reshaping existing community-owned and led spaces, heritage buildings and green areas, to secure their future for community use.
The Enterprise Centre at Ferney Lee connects to Town Deal investment into the nearby leisure, sports and cultural facilities at Centre Vale Park and the community-run historic Fielden Hall, currently undergoing extensive energy efficiency measures as part of the Town Deal.
Pam Warhurst, Chair, Todmorden Town Deal Board said:
“We are delighted that construction of this exciting and important new home for enterprise, business, co-working and collaboration in Todmorden is now underway.
“The Enterprise Centre will meet the need for professional, modern and affordable workspaces and offices for commercial ventures, and for Todmorden people with ideas and passions they want to transform into a local enterprise.
“We are committed to supporting our local economy in particular new skills development, and business and job creation, and the new enterprise centre perfectly embodies this element of our vision”.
The affordable rented housing element of the new build is led by Connect Housing, a community benefit society and housing association, providing homes and support to communities across West Yorkshire.
The homes will deliver a high level of sustainability, built to passive design principles. This means low energy use, low levels of embedded carbon, a high level of thermal insulation and air-tightness that will keep energy costs affordable. The homes will be powered and heated with air source heat pumps, solar panels and offer electric car-charging.
Connect Housing will manage the build phase, and also manage the new homes when completed.
Martyn Broadest, Director of Home for Connect Housing, said:
“We are delighted to be building upon our longstanding partnership with CVCLT to help bring more much-needed affordable housing to the upper Calder Valley area. We share the commitment to create very high quality, super-energy-efficient homes, and the standards to which Ferney Lee has been designed will provide an exemplar new housing scheme for Todmorden.
“The design team has worked really hard to create a development which is sympathetic to the surrounding neighbourhood, and which will benefit the wider community. I can’t wait to see it start to take shape, and for the new residents to move in, in about 12 months’ time. We very much appreciate the support of Homes England who are providing funding towards the overall costs of the project through the UK Government Affordable Homes Programme.”
Town Deal Partner, Calder Valley Community Land Trust has successfully driven the Ferney Lee project forward to this exciting stage, and once the Enterprise Centre is developed, it will be run by their social enterprise subsidiary, CVCLT Enterprise Limited.
Dai Larner, Director, Calder Valley Community Land Trust, said:
“We believe that by creating a home for 21st century jobs we can provide work for our young people who move away to study and want to return to live and work in the valley. The new project at Ferney Lee will be a core part of the regeneration of Todmorden.
“Our primary aim at CVCLT is to provide secure tenancies in affordable rented homes that enable people to put down roots, become a part of the community and have the health benefits that a secure affordable tenancy brings. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Connect Housing, Homes England and the Town Deal Board, to make this a reality at Ferney Lee.”
The funding package for the Ferney Lee project comprises: 3.8M funding from Todmorden Town Deal, 1.9M from Connect Housing and a further £1.9M provided by Homes England through the Affordable Homes Programme (2021/2026).
Construction at Ferney Lee is being undertaken by PLP Construction with completion anticipated in Spring 2026.
