More towns added to £1bn Future High Streets Fund

Seven more town and city centres in the North West have been added to the Government’s £1bn Future High Streets Fund, adding to an initial list of 14 announced last month.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the £1bn fund would be expanded to include a further 50 towns following an initial shortlist of 50 announced in July.

In the North West, the towns included in the second round of Future High Streets Fund are Carlisle, Bolton, Rochdale, Runcorn, Blackpool, Kirkham, and Barrow.

These join the initial 14, which are Farnworth, Oldham, Stockport, Stretford, Wigan, Birkenhead and New Ferry, Crewe, Winsford, Chorley, Morecambe, Nelson, Fleetwood, and Whitehaven.

The fund was launched in December, with a Government brief that it was looking to “provide co-funding towards capital projects that bring transformative change. We want to see the regeneration of our town centres through innovative proposals around transport, housing delivery and our public services”.

Successful towns will progress to the second phase of the Future High Streets Fund and receive up to £150,000 to support the development of detailed project proposals that can be submitted for capital funding.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Our high streets are right at the heart of our communities, and I will do everything I can to make sure they remain vibrant places where people want to go, meet and spend their money.

“This scheme is going to reenergise and transform even more of our high streets – helping them to attract new businesses, boost local growth, and create new infrastructure and jobs.”