A new training centre opened today in the Alconbury Enterprise Zone, a former airfield and brownfield site. Alconbury Training Centre will train hundreds of local people to further develop the site. Over the course of the development period, the Enterprise Zone will create in excess of  8,000 jobs in high-tech research, development and manufacturing. The site owners, Urban&Civic are working with JobCentre Plus, the local authority and local further education colleges to establish a jobs and skills ‘hub’ which will support local people into work with additional contractors and companies coming to the site.

The Enterprise Zone has already delivered a simplified planning process that turned around consent for the marquee “incubator” building in just 36 days and using its business rate benefits has attracted high-tech research and development firm Enval to the area.

Uniquely, the zone will be rolled out alongside a wider residential development which could include 5,000 new homes, public transport infrastructure including guided busways and cycle networks; energy, water and waste infrastructure; community facilities including schools and a health centre; and 700 acres of landscaped green space with over half a million trees planted.

 Read the full story here: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/2250330