St Helens makes business case for £20m Towns Fund projects

A report before the council’s cabinet meeting on 14 July includes details for six of the eight projects, including the second phase of Glass Futures.

St Helens Cabinet is being asked to approve the business cases ahead of submission to central government. The deadline for submissions is 6 August.

Amion Consulting advised on the first tranche of proposals, which make up £20.4m. Another two projects, whose business cases will be submitted in November to the government, equate to around £3m.

The Town Deal funds will not cover the entirety of most of the projects, with the council or private investors contributing the remaining amount.

The first batch of projects are:

• Glass Futures phase two: £5.5m of the Towns Fund will go towards building a 107,000 sq ft medical glass production facility. Private investment is supplying the remaining £100m for the project. Work started on the first phase of Glass Futures, a 165,000 q ft glass research and innovation, earlier this year.
• Cannington Shaw No:7 Bottle Shop: £1.3m from the Towns Fund will go towards stabilising, repairing and restoring the grade two-listed bottle shop building. This work will enable future preservation efforts from the Foundation for Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust.
• Town Centre Living and Regeneration: £7.2m from the Towns Fund will go towards redeveloping Hardshaw Centre into a dynamic space with offices, a hotel, market hall and flats. The project aims to be net zero in operation. English Cities Fund, a joint venture between Legal & General, Muse Developments and Homes England, is the development partner for the £200m scheme.
• Heritage World: Around £1m from the Towns Fund will go towards re-imagining the galleries and displays at the World of Glass Museum off Chalon Way.
• Connected Places: £3m from the Towns Fund will go towards creating a bus station at St Helens Central Station, as well as improving the public realm around the area. Another £7.7m is required to bring the project to fruition.
• Digital Infrastructure: £2.5m from the Towns Fund will go towards connecting St Helens borough to full-fibre broadband via the LCR Connect, a 212-kilometre, gigabit-capable network that is being installed through a partnership between ITS Technology Group, NGE and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The digital infrastructure providers are contributing £21m to the scheme and St Helens is providing £3m.

The next phase of business cases revolves around a health innovation hub and a youth zone. These are being submitted later due to lead organisation Torus being unable to find a viable site.

Once the business cases for this first wave of projects have been submitted, St Helens Council estimates it will receive the 95% of its Towns Fund money in December. The first 5% had already been provided to help with the business case proposals.

St Helens is aiming to deliver all of its Towns Fund projects by the end of 2026.