Wandsworth Council has announced a £70m further investment in improving the borough’s infrastructure over the next two years.
The council has earmarked the cash in capital spending to fund improvements across all service areas between now and the end of March 2017.
This brings the total funding set aside to improve the borough’s infrastructure to around £200m for the same period.
Around £30m extra will be spent on improving school buildings, providing new school places and expanding facilities for children and young people.
An additional £17m will be spent on improving Wandsworth’s transport infrastructure including more than £5m on upgrading passenger facilities at Battersea Park Station, an extra £3.4m on repairing pavements and road surfaces and £400,000 more on better street lighting.
An extra £500,000 will be spent on improving homes for disabled people, £150,000 more on resurfacing park footpaths and £155,000 on library upgrades, including the provision of new toilets at Battersea Library.
An additional £1.3m has been set aside to pay for the proposed new 3G all-weather pitch in Battersea’s Falcon Park, while an extra £1m will be spent on renewing the roofs of swimming pools at the leisure centres in Balham and Putney, refurbishing the poolside walkways at the Tooting Bec Lido, enhancing water quality and safety at the Tooting leisure centre pool and replacing the sports hall roof at the Wandle Rec. At Barn Elms sports centre £200,000 will be spent on resurfacing tennis courts.
Local bus services will get a £650,000 boost while an extra £286,000 will be spent on new cycle routes and £190,000 on installing 20mph speed limits in residential areas.
Most of the funding for these projects will come from grants provided by the government and also Transport for London, as well as local infrastructure payments from developers.
The council’s finance spokesman Cllr Guy Senior said: “It is important that we continue to invest in improving the borough’s infrastructure so that it continues to meet the needs of local residents and businesses.
“We have been able to add the significant extra sum of £70m to our already extensive capital programme. This means that a total of £200m has now been earmarked and set aside for specific projects between now and the end of March 2017.
“These schemes, which range from schools and homes to roads, libraries and leisure centres will add real value to the borough and improve the daily lives of local people.”
