Govt pledges £1.1bn to revitalise ‘overlooked’ towns
The days of towns being ignored by Westminster are over, or so say the Conservatives, who have identified 55 places that will each benefit from £20m over the next 10 years.
The government has promised to hand out £1.1bn over the next decade to address issues such as “half-empty high streets, run-down town centres, and anti-social behaviour”.
In the North West and North Wales, 10 towns and one city have been selected as part of what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is calling a Long-term Plan for Towns. They are:
- Darwen
- Chadderton
- Heywood
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Accrington
- Leigh
- Farnworth
- Nelson
- Kirkby
- Burnley
- Wrexham
“Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities,” Sunak said.
“The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres, and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunities. Without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.”
While any new funding to help towns will be welcomed by those selected, the announcement forms part of the government’s maligned levelling up agenda.
Critics have continually blasted the government for a lack of action on levelling up and the policy has been significantly undermined in recent days by Whitehall’s lack of commitment to HS2 north of Birmingham.
Sunak has refused to provide clarity on HS2. Credit: HM Treasury, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 bit.ly/3tAFsmV
Rumours have been circulating for more than a week that the line from the Midlands to Manchester will be scrapped but Sunak has refused to provide clarity on the issue during several recent media appearances.
The Prime Minister will be hoping his towns announcement will provide some ballast to the levelling up narrative during this week’s Conservative party conference in Manchester.
The chosen towns will be given the opportunity to “develop a long-term plan” and empower local people to drive change, according to the Tories.
Town boards will be set up in each place to bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP, to draw up and deliver the plans.
Meanwhile, “a suite of regeneration powers” would be used to unlock opportunities to revive ailing high streets.
“For too long, too many of our great British towns have been overlooked and undervalued,” said levelling up secretary Michael Gove.
“We are putting this right through our Long-Term Plan for Towns backed by over £1bn of levelling up funding to empower communities in every part of the UK to take back control of their future, taking long term decisions in the interests of local people.”
I wonder does he actually believe some of the things he says or does he just not know? I mean don’t get me wrong the other lot are even less competent judging from the ‘talent’ they deploy on their bench, a sort of Darlington FC playing in the Premiership, but even so, I wonder does he really believe it when he practices in the mirror or does he just say the words then laugh like the rest of us do.
By Reformer
Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right. Here I am stuck in the middle of Leigh.
By Elephant
Pork Barrel Politics. Chorley never receives anything as we have Lindsay Hoyle as MP, since he is the Speaker the seat is not contested by the main parties so the constituency is not seen as a priority for government investment.
By Anonymous
20million over 10 years. Wow so generous
By Anonymous
Wrexham isn’t a town
By LL13
At this point they are just throwing anything at the wall to see what will stick
By Bradford
Throwing money into these town centres won’t fix the structural issues, look at Bolton and the last funding bid it received. The M&S still closed down and there are vacant shops.
By Anonymous
£1.1bn over ten years won’t go far and only a tiny fraction of the funds that would have been provided from the EU. Ridiculous.
By Anonymous
I’m not sure if it’s the rictus grin or the Asian Alan Partridge vibe but I’m guessing Rishi has no more grasp on reality than any other London based Billionaire. I’m still looking for a party I would actually vote for.
By Anonymous
Bolton? anyone ever remember that place? Always misses out on funding.
By MJ
This, and a few quid for potholes is the Governments pathetic response to the cancellation of HS2, unbelievably small minded.
By Anonymous
Heard it all before. Repeatedly.
When will we learn that piecemeal Westminster / Whitehall administered programmes DO NOT WORK. Their publicity stunts at best.
By Westminster dysfunction
St Helens overlooked again
By Anonymous
All electioneering RUBBISH AND LIES from the Southservatives. For a start how many pledges have been announced then quietly cancelled? HS2? , Liverpool to Hull revamp completed by 2018? Secondly, they offer £2million a year per town… Local councils couldn’t pay the increase in energy bills with that.
By Bernard Fender
Anonymous @ 1:00pm – The loss of retail anchors is all the more reason to fund the recovery of centres. Are you suggesting Bolton can thrive without public sector intervention?
By Ash T
It’s not 1b British cities need but 20b. British towns and sea-side resorts are falling into disrepair up and down the country. Britain is perhaps the only country in Europe where its towns are in a state of advanced decay.
By John
Where was this cash several years ago? Such a transparent bribe to marginal seat areas from the HS2 cancellation money, which lets face it is yet another broken promise
By Levelling Up Manager
I feel that there is an anger in the North now, which we saw with the Scots, prior to when the SNP won control. It might be the time for Burnham and the Northern mayors to set up an alternative Labour group away from the useless London Labour, as I would certainly vote for them, if they dedicated themselves to our needs alone. Out economy is over 400 billion pounds a year, and it should be double that, but we have been continually ignored and ridiculed.
By Elephant