CASTLE School Sixth Form in Thornbury and Station Road in Yate are among key community projects in South Gloucestershire set to benefit from more than £2million in government funding.

The grants, part of the Land Release fund, were announced today by Housing Minister Dominic Raab, aiming to help councils across the country meet their ambition to unlock enough of land they own for at least 160,000 homes by 2020.

A total of nine projects in Thornbury, Yate, Frampton Cotterell, Tytherington, Filton, Bradley Stoke and Emersons Green will receive a combined £2.125million in funding to support building homes on council owned land.

The projects – which aim to support building strong communities - include a range of necessary works such as essential asbestos removal and flood defence works as well as schemes that will significantly improve quality of life.

In Thornbury, £720,000 will be spent on the Castle School Sixth Form, with a further £30,000 on Eastbury Close.

A total of £230,000 has been allocated to Station Road in Yate and £100,000 to land at Woodlands in Tytherington.

Projects on Woodland Road and Lower Stone in Frampton Cotterell have been allocated £175,000 and £20,000 respectively.

Housing and Planning Minister Dominic Raab said: "We are investing £20.5 million across the South West to build roads and provide utilities, so councils can release the land to get up to 2,500 new homes built.

“It's part of our strategy to build the homes Britain needs, and carry local communities with us.

“We're determined to make buying or renting more affordable for young families and those on low or middle incomes."

The Land Release Fund is being administered through a partnership with the Local Government Association and Cabinet Office’s One Public Estate (OPE) programme.

OPE already works with 90 per cent of councils in England to transform communities and services through large scale economic growth, delivering new jobs and new homes.