100 towns to share £80m
The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has announced that over 100 towns in England will each be given up to £1 million to kick start regeneration projects and give areas a boost.
The funding to be received varies between £500k and £1m per town. The money will be available to help support projects such as new green spaces, the creation of pop-up businesses spaces, pedestrianising streets to encourage walking or cycling and creating new community hubs to support those living alone.
Projects such as Burton on Trent’s High Street regeneration, for which the town has been awarded £750,000, will see improvements to make the high street a more pleasant place to visit with new bus access and cycle lanes so the public can more easily visit.
In Newcastle-under-Lyme, the £1 million funding will boost the town’s regeneration plans, helping to demolish unloved buildings to make way for a new chapter in the town’s history.
These funds are part of the overall £3.6 billion Towns Fund commitment by government to ensure that spending is decentralised and gives power to local authorities on how they spend money to regenerate their areas. As part of the scheme, each area is receiving support to develop Town Deals – a vision and strategy to improve the local area.
