South East England Development Agency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SEEDA, more officially the South East England Development Agency, is one of a number of Regional Development Agencies in the UK. It was set up in 1999 to promote the region and to enable a number of more difficult regeneration projects which otherwise might not take place. It covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Projects include:
- A number in the Thames Gateway area;
- Regeneration of the Kent Coalfield;
- Development plans for the Ashford area;
- A plan for the regeneration of Hastings and Bexhill, including town centre improvements, new housing and the development of a new university;
- The 'Building for Nature' advisory service, which aims to help developers produce projects in the most environmentally-friendly way;
- Helping and advising farmers and rural businesses;
- A broadband programme to ensure more remote businesses and residences have high speed internet access;
- Supporting start-up businesses at 20 'enterprise hubs' (eventually 30 are planned): Aylesbury Vale, Canterbury, Diamond (at Crawley), Eastbourne, Farnborough (launched 19th July 2006), Hastings & Bexhill, Food Technology (based at Reading), High Wycombe, Isle of Wight, Medway, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Oxford, Reading, Sittingbourne, Slough, Solent (covers Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth), Southampton, Southern Oxfordshire and Surrey (covers Egham, Guildford and Leatherhead).
- Supporting existing businesses through 16 'enterprise gateways' (eventually 20 are planned): Adur (based in Shoreham-by-Sea), Arun & Littlehampton (primarily covers Bognor Regis and Littlehampton), Chilterns (based in High Wycombe, gives particular support to bespoke furniture makers), East Kent (based in Dover), Faringdon (covers rural west Oxfordshire), Folkestone, Medway, Milton Keynes, Newhaven, Reading, Romney, Rural Hampshire, Slough, South East Hampshire (covers Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth), Southampton and Surrey.
