THE West of England Joint Committee set to discuss an investment initiative to support economic growth and sustainable transport.

Members will consider over £12m of investment in projects to drive economic growth and support sustainable transport when it meets at Kingswood Civic Centre in South Gloucestershire on Friday, November 30, at 1pm.

The Joint Committee is the decision-making body for issues relating to the West of England Combined Authority, Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils, and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The committee will discuss allocating £2.795m from the Local Growth Fund to support South Gloucestershire Council’s Sustainable Transport Package. This includes two sections of cycle route upgrades in the Filton/Patchway area and two new signalised crossings on the A38 at M5 Junction 16; a wide range of walking, cycling and safety improvements near to schools, and 12 replacement community transport vehicles.

Members will also consider investing £4m from the Economic Development Fund in Bristol City Council’s plan for Engine Shed 2. The project involves the refurbishment of the George and Railway site and a new building on the adjacent car park – creating a new 44,000 sq ft development opposite the highly successful Engine Shed 1, to provide more business floorspace and support activities.

A £6m investment from the Local Growth Fund, into City of Bristol College’s Advanced Construction Skills Centre, will also be considered. The plan is to build a new 2,500m2 centre as a linked extension to the college’s existing South Bristol Skills Academy site at Hengrove.

Tim Bowles, West of England Mayor, said: “We will consider a number of initiatives put forward to support our plans for business growth, helping people to benefit from future opportunities in our region and enabling more people to travel around more safely.”

Professor Steve West, Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We look forward to discussing the range of proposals aimed towards giving further boosts to the West of England economy, through improving skills opportunities for people across the region, helping more start-up businesses to develop and grow, and increasing productivity.”

The Joint Committee will discuss the Joint Local Transport Plan (JLTP), which will go out to public consultation in early 2019.

It will also receive updates on budgets and the review of Invest Bristol & Bath.

The meeting will be filmed and available to view at: westofengland-ca.gov.uk from Monday, December 3. Meeting papers can also be found on the website.