North West communities net £486m from Town Deals

Money from the £3.6bn government fund is meant to boost investment, encourage economic regeneration and provide vital infrastructure.

The government published on 15 July its full list of 101 towns that received awards from the fund, including 20 North West communities. Award notices have been trickling in since October 2020, with Blackpool, Barrow-in-Furness and Warrington being among the first to have their Town Deal bids accepted.

Birkenhead, Darwen and Nelson were among the newest batch of awardees.

Darwen said it would use its £25m to support its £116m investment plan, which includes helping with its Darwen Tower, J4 Skatepark and AFC Darwen projects.

Birkenhead plans to allocate part of its £25m towards providing an access link between the waterfront and town centre through Hamilton Square.

Nelson will push its £25m award towards helping eight key projects, including creating a new digital skills hub and academy, establishing the Pendle Youth Employment Service Hub, modernising Nelson’s industrial sites and improving traffic flow and parking in the town centre.

Here is the full list of North West communities alongside the amount they were offered:

• Barrow-in-Furness – £25m
• Birkenhead – £25m
• Blackpool – £39.5m
• Bolton – £22.9m
• Carlisle – £19.7m
• Cheadle – £13.9m
• Cleator Moor – £22.5m
• Crewe – £22.9m
• Darwen – £25m
• Leyland – £25m
• Millom –£20.6m
• Nelson – £25m
• Oldham – £24.4m
• Preston – £19.9m
• Rochdale – £23.6m
• Runcorn – £23.6m
• Southport – £37.5m
• St Helens – £25m
• Warrington – £22.1m
• Workington – £23.1m