Town in new bid for £20m of Levelling Up funding
COUNCILLORS HOPING FOR SUCCESS IN SECOND ROUND
A FRESH bid for £20m to overhaul Billingham’s centre is being made after the town missed out the first time around.
There was anger and disappointment when Stockton Council’s initial request to overhaul the town’s West Precinct using the Levelling Up Fund was rejected last year. Officials want to gain control of the area to rejuvenate parts of the “tired” town centre by dealing with “high vacancy rates and excess retail space” hitting the shopping district.
Better access and a more modern retail offering are part of the vision – and leaders agreed to borrow £10m to help fund the plan last year. But Billingham didn’t make the short list – leading to one councillor accusing the government of “living in cloud cuckoo land” given well-heeled
Yarm had benefited from the fund.
Now the council will have another go with the result expected in the autumn. Ahead of tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, Cllr Nigel
Cooke said the Levelling
Up Fund would give them a chance to bring “real transformational change” to Billingham.
The cabinet member for regeneration added: “It was deeply disappointing to find out we had been unsuccessful in round one of the funding as Billingham is in need of investment and has so much potential.
“We are keen to make the most of this funding opportunity and I am confident that the new application for £20m in round two will be a strong and enhanced bid.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve shaped Billingham into a different type of place and experience but there are parts of the town that are still in need of investment.”
The bid comes after rail bosses promised longawaited work to overhaul disabled access to the town’s station would be done
within 12 months. Cash from the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), Network Rail and Stockton Council is funding the £3.6m work.
Diggers moved in earlier this month with the promise of a new and improved bridge to connect the station’s two platforms and two lifts to be in “by spring 2023” in the station’s biggest overhaul for 50 years. The car park will also see an overhaul.
Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham said: “For too long people in Billingham with mobility issues, bikes, and pushchairs, have been forced to travel further to get the train, so I’m delighted that spades are now in the ground at Billingham Station, and the station is set to have step-free access by spring 2023. This has been a long, hard-won campaign by local councillors and residents – supported by my office – to ensure Billingham Station is fit for the 21st century and it’s great to see this campaign has paid off.”
Council leader Cllr Bob Cook added the authority had also “pushed hard” for the scheme.
Kieran Dunkin, from Network Rail, said the work was expected to take between nine and 12 months – and thanked the Department for Transport, the council and the TVCA. Council leaders will discuss the Levelling Up Fund bid and plans for town centres across the borough tomorrow.
Cash for an extension and better play equipment at Romano Park, Ingleby Barwick, Norton’s one-way loop and high street overhaul and progress on Yarm’s Town Hall heritage centre
will all be on the agenda.