Blackburn sets out £40m levelling up vision

The local authority has revealed the detail of its bid for Levelling-Up Fund support.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said that the first £20m would be used to accelerate the first phase of its £250m masterplan for Blackburn town centre, on which it is working with Maple Grove Developments.

LUF support would be put to work in unlocking the town’s proposed £60m skills and education campus, which forms part of plans for an innovation district.

The second £20m would be allocated to transport infrastructure improvements to the south of Blackburn, including upgrading Junction 5 of the M65 motorway.

Both projects closely link to the council’s Blackburn Growth Axis plans, which links to the nearby Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, soon to be home to the new National Cyber Force headquarters.

Cllr Phil Riley, the new leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “I’m incredibly proud to be fronting these compelling Levelling-Up Fund bids which could be truly transformational for our borough and indeed the whole region.

“The £40m would immediately unlock a further £50m of investment and would accelerate our plans for the skills campus by a good five years while setting out the infrastructure we need to underpin our ambitious plans as part of the Blackburn Growth Axis.

“We are carving out a strong reputation as a growing borough and we know that this level of funding would support us to deliver our bold vision – helping us to reach our new economic future much more quickly.”

BwD’s growth and development team is also now finalising business cases for £25m of Town Deal funding secured for Darwen, which the council said will unlock a further £100m investment.

There is also £6m committed from government for a three-year term under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

This summer is seeing bids entered for the seond round of Levelling Up Fund allocations, after the first round saw North West councils secure £232m of the £17bn disbursed in October 2021. The scheme in total will be worth £4.8bn.

Cllr Riley concluded: “We’ve worked hard to develop extremely strong bids to put us in the best possible position and we’re looking forward to the Government reviewing our applications and revealing more details in the summer.”