New team are charged to bring millions of pounds to borough
CALDERDALE COUNCIL will recruit a team of eight new staff who will be charged to bring millions of pounds to the borough.
Six new town board project managers, a legal officer and a finance officer will run a Towns Investment Programme.
The council believes this could bring £74.3m to the district from various sources.
The cabinet member for regeneration and resources, Coun Jane Scullion, said: “This is a great opportunity – or set of opportunities.
“This is development of three different schemes intended to help particularly our market towns and our struggling high streets and Calderdale is successful in getting funding from each of these three different schemes.
“Each of those funds has different criteria, different rules in terms of the length of time and spend, and delivery criteria.
“This is to ensure we have sufficient capacity to deliver the schemes for those towns.”
A programme manager post has already been established and the new staff were expected to start from July.
The new staff will cost the council around £354,000 this year and £471,000 from 2021-22.
The council has already been awarded Government Future High Street Fund cash to support bids for Halifax and Elland, with £125,000 available to meet staffing costs over the next two years.
Some £302,000 Towns Fund money is approved for Todmorden and Brighouse and £137,000 is assured from the Environment Agency to develop flood alleviation schemes for Hebden Bridge.
In total, the bids include £22.4m from the Future High Streets Fund for Halifax and Elland, £50m from the Towns Fund for Todmorden and Brighouse and £1.9m Heritage Action Zone funding for the borough, together totalling £74.3m.
Coun Geraldine Carter said the Future High Streets funding for Halifax was “absolutely fantastic”.
She said she was “absolutely thrilled” at the funding. Coun Scullion said ward councillors would be kept informed.