County’s warring leaders urged to seize chance to help market towns
NORTH YORKSHIRE’S divided political leaders have been urged to put their differences aside and grasp the “exciting opportunity” presented by the Government’s two new “levelling up” projects to rejuvenate the county’s market towns.
James Farrar, chief operating officer for the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said county and district leaders would need to collaborate to make the most of the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund and the £220m Community Renewal Fund.
The Levelling Up Fund will provide one-off capital investment of up to £20m “in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK”, while the one-year Community Renewal Fund provides day-today revenue funding to be spent on skills, getting people into jobs and local communities.
Mr Farrar, whose organisation will help local councils get their bids in by June 18, said leaders could try to blend investment from both funds to invest in the local market towns which have been hit badly by the pandemic.
He said: “The thing that’s quite distinct about North Yorkshire is that it’s very place-driven, so they’re very much about the market towns and their hinterlands and places play a really important role in the success of the economy. So it’s not about economies of scale like you get in a city, it’s very much about local places coming together.
“And actually if you look at the Levelling Up Fund with the Community Renewal Fund it gives the opportunity to look at capital infrastructure, alongside the skills needs of a local place, alongside heritage and culture, and all those aspects and also what businesses need. So this iectss where collaborating and working together is so important. It provides a unique opportunity to look cross-theme.”
County and district leaders have been at odds in a dispute over what will replace the current two-tier system of local government. And Mr Farrar said the new funds were “a great opportunity for the county and the districts to put their differences aside at the moment and actually collaborate with regard to securing the most money we can possibly get into the patch”.
Collaborating and working together is so important.
James Farrar, of the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.