THE Ross-on-Wye Enterprise Park development has been given an extra £1.48 million in funding to help keep the project on track.

Work began on Enterprise Park site, just off the A40 near Hildersley in February of this year. And now Herefordshire Council has approved the release of the additional funding for the business park, from an existing council budget

Ross Enterprise Park is being developed on council-owned land with the additional funding to cover £750,000 for construction work, £255,000 for design and consultancy support, and £475,000 for utility connections and other related works.

The council states in its documentation that extra funding is needed because of rising costs linked to utility works, changes to traffic management arrangements, additional earthworks and further design requirements while the work has progressed since February.

The additional funding relates to Phase one of the scheme, which encumbrances four development plots.

Each plot will be around one acre in size, and each plot will be available for future business use. Once completed, the four plots will be put on the open market.

It is expected that the plots that will have between 77,000 and 100,000 square feet of employment space, will attract businesses interested in creating offices, workshops and industrial units.

The first phase of the scheme, being constructed by Fitzgerald Contractors Ltd also includes a new access from the A40 along with internal roads, drainage systems, utilities and other infrastructure that will be needed to make the land ready for commercial development.

It is expected that once completed, the Enterprise Park will have the capacity to support up to 600 jobs.

Despite the increase, the documentation states that the additional spending remains within the overall budget already approved for the Enterprise Park.

The Enterprise Park is part of Herefordshire Council’s Ross-on-Wye Market Town Investment Plan and to address the shortage of employment land in the district.