The Golden Valley Cyber Development

The 200-hectare Cyber development, spearheaded by Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Borough Councils

The Golden Valley Development – Cyber Central, is a joint public and private sector initiative aimed at creating the UK’s first dedicated hub, in Cheltenham, to support the growth and development of new cyber security businesses, technology, research and skills.

The 200-hectare development, spearheaded by Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Borough Councils, will create a mixed-use development adjacent to GCHQ. Enabling the opening up of a strategic employment land allocation by bringing forward highway infrastructure improvements, enabling capacity on the network to accelerate an early phased release of the employment site.  The strategic allocation includes 45 hectares of much needed employment land, focussed on cyber-tech with a target of generating new high skilled/high GVA generating jobs, together with facilitating the delivery of the GCHQ Cyber Innovation Centre.  Together with around 1,100 new homes, the strategic allocation will bring forward a sustainable mixed-use urban extension to Cheltenham.

They have already announced that Cheltenham Borough Council have agreed a £37.5million deal to acquire these 45 hectares of development land to the west of the town - the biggest single investment ever made by Cheltenham Borough Council. which has made a further £180million funding available. The land has been earmarked to become part of the Cyber Central development that will see a "world-leading business hub for cyber technology" created in Gloucestershire.  The scheme is part of a larger 132-hectare proposal that would see a huge swathe of land to the west of Cheltenham become a "pioneering Garden Village community."

The Cyber Central scheme is being developed in partnership with Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucestershire County Council and GFirst LEP. GFirst LEP has granted £22 million to one of their projects to go into the Phase One infrastructure.

The centres will provide a base for innovators and cyber start-ups to develop products concepts and ideas in a barrier-free environment of collaboration between industry, academia and government.

Six potential development partners have been shortlisted for Cheltenham's Golden Valley Development - the town's £400million cyber hub.

As well as Cyber Central, the UK's first campus built around cyber technology, it will also include a 3,000-home garden community.

Cheltenham Borough Council managing director for place and growth Tim Atkins said: "The reaction and response to the search for a development partner for the Golden Valley Development has been overwhelmingly positive.

Having been awarded Garden Community status by Homes England, the development will have sustainability at its core with pioneering design principles around the use of open space, community wellbeing and homes which meet changing needs.”

Cyber Central UK, the first phase of the development, will be completed by 2023.

For more information go to the Golden Valley website (link).