Cash bid for town centre regeneration
RUNCORN could benefit from a share of a £2.6bn regeneration cash fund.
The Government announced its Towns Fund on Friday, inviting 100 areas to bid for up to £25m of cash each.
Towns on the list are intended to include places with ‘proud industrial and economic heritage’ but which ‘have not always benefitted from economic growth in the same way as more prosperous areas’, the Ministry Of Housing, Communities And Local Government said (MHCLG).
Residents, business leaders and neighbourhood leaders have been invited to team up to create ‘ ambitious’ plans to
● transform their economic growth prospects, with a focus on improved transport, broadband connectivity, skills and culture.
Forty-two of the locations are in the North, 33 in the Midlands, and the others in the South.
The North West towns on the list are Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bolton, Cheadle, Crewe, Darwen, Leyland, Nelson, Oldham, Rochdale, Southport, St Helens, and Warrington. The announcement came hot on the heels of Runcorn Old Town being awarded £150,000 to bid for between £5m and £25m from the £1bn Future High Street Fund, taking the total to be dished out to £3.6bn.
Robert Jenrick MP, Local Government Secretary, said: “Ensuring that prosperity and opportunities are available to everyone in this country, not just those in London or our biggest cities, is at the heart of the mission of this government.
“We want to level-up our great towns, raising living standards and ensuring they can thrive with transformative investment in transport, technology, skills and culture.
“I will now work with local people from the 100 communities announced today to agree proposals to invest up to £25m in each place.
“I hope these deals will provide the investment and the impetus for longterm renewal ensuring each town can look to the future with a new optimism.”