THE first phase of an economic regeneration project at Osprey Quay on Portland is now complete.

Liberty Square is the £650,000 public centrepiece of a proposed new mixed-use ‘Castle Court’ development, to include housing, retail and leisure areas plus 1,000 square metres of workspace.

The square has been developed with a £500,000 loan from the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership Growing Places Fund, plus a £150,000 investment from the Homes and Communities Agency, working with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

The square will be used to help promote the site to investors.

Managed by the borough council, the work was carried out by Balfour Beatty and features local materials.

Council spokesman for economic development Ian Munro-Price, said: “We are confident that the completion of the public space will increase interest from developers in the area around the square as well as the wider Osprey Quay area.

“It will help to spur development forward and we will continue to work closely with the HCA and other partners to make sure the full potential is realised.

“This is part of an economic regeneration agenda that started before and goes far beyond the Olympics.”