Five local authorities in England and Scotland have agreed the details of Levelling Up Partnership funding awarded to them by the government, with a focus on regeneration.
Boston Borough Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Wakefield Council, Scottish Borders Council and Tendring District Council were previously earmarked to receive the funding but received government approval on the details of regeneration schemes “before the Election drawbridge goes up”, as a Stoke-on-Trent council spokesperson put it.
All the Levelling Up Partnerships will be subject to business case, the government said, but the funding has now been confirmed.
Some £13m will be invested in regeneration and improving access to community sports facilities in Boston. This will include £7m for Boston Leisure Centre and £3.2m to complete Boston United’s community sports complex which supports young people and will include 30 affordable homes. Alongside this, more than £1.5m will be invested in projects to support community groups and boost tourism while £2.8m will go to Boston College to acquire and develop an existing site to open a digital and creative campus.
In Stoke-on-Trent, almost £6.5m will be invested on regenerating historic and heritage buildings, with £2.5m to improve recreational facilities and create a new wellbeing campus.
Of the total £20m in Levelling Up Partnership funding, the spokesperson said there would be benefits “to many parts of the city and people of different ages and interests”. A primary focus will be on improving town centres, while a new city centre plan will also now be brought forward. “All of these projects will complement all the other work being delivered under the new corporate strategy to improve the wellbeing of our city,” the spokesperson noted.
More than £10m will be invested in Wakefield to support regeneration and boost skills. The Grade II listed Crown Court will be renovated, while other funding will go to an art gallery and a public art walking route. A new voluntary and community sector hub in the city centre will also be built.
Wakefield Council recently set out its plan to “redefine the city centre and attract inward investment” at the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF). A strategic regeneration partner will be appointed to realise the vision and accelerate growth in Wakefield city centre. Mixed use developments for the city will be brought forward, “ushering in a new era of development and growth”, according to the council.
The authority said it was working with public and private sector partners to “ramp up” the latest phase of urban regeneration in the city.
In the Scottish Borders, an investment of over £11m will support local economic development, including hotel development, the purchase of business units, and a brownfield fund pot. Some £6m will support refurbishment and retrofitting of buildings, youth services and village halls.
Details of Tendring’s Levelling Up Partnership remain subject to local Cabinet approval, but are likely to include the £3m redevelopment of a leisure centre, £2m for an urgent treatment centre and primary care facility at Clacton Hospital, and other regeneration initiatives.
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