Latest news with #PlanforNeighbourhoods'
BBC News
17-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Cash injection can help revive Kirkby-inAshfield'
Residents living in a town that is set to receive £20m worth of funding say its high-street "desperately" needs the in Nottinghamshire is one of 75 areas in the country due to be given the money to pay for funding was initially announced by the previous Conservative government but has been re-confirmed by District Council said it was pleased the money had been secured and it is currently deciding what it will be spent on. The government says its 'Plan for Neighbourhoods' scheme is investing £1.5bn over the next decade to help places that have been "left behind."In Kirby-in-Ashfield, a town board has been established to draft has been decided so far, and any projects will not be rolled out until Leigh-Anne Morris welcomed the investment as she describes the town as being in "serious decline.""I have lived here for 16 years and it's sadly getting worse and worse" she said."Shops and businesses are open one minute and close all of a sudden."We have kids loitering in the parks and on the streets because there isn't anywhere for them to go. The town needs reviving." Christine Palmer, 79, lives in nearby Sutton-in-Ashfield but frequently comes to Kirkby."There is not much attracting me to the area anymore," she said."I remember there were plenty of butchers and bakers, but all those staple businesses have gone."If they don't sort this issue out, it will be a ghost town."Craig Potter has lived in the town his whole life, and said it had "good facilities" but the money needed to be spent wisely."We have a great leisure centre and some good pubs, but in other places in Ashfield, you see that more of the shops are boarded up and neglected," he said. "We need to make sure that does not happen to Kirkby, and that the council listens to what residents actually want."Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council said: "To have confirmation this funding is secure is good news for Ashfield."We will continue to work with the Kirkby Town Board to review our plan and get it ready for re-submission later in the year."
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Londonderry and Coleraine to get £40m in neighbourhood funding
Coleraine and Londonderry are set to receive £40m as part of the UK government's Plan for Neighbourhoods, which follows on from a previous commitment made last April 2024, it was announced as part of the Conservative government's budget that they would each receive £20m over 10 years, as part of the Towns Fund. The funding earmarked for the regeneration of both areas was then suspended by the newly elected Labour government last the government has now confirmed that both Coleraine and Derry will receive £20m each, along with 75 other areas across the UK. 'In contrast to unfunded pledges' In a statement, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the UK said that the funding would "help tackle deprivation and turbocharge growth for each area".They added that this announcement "is in contrast to unfunded pledges from the previous government".Funding will be released from April 2025 with delivery investment commencing in 2026, according to the department. It continued that they have also doubled the number of things that the money can be spent includes anything from repairs to pavements and high streets, to setting up low-cost community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, as well as cooperatives or neighbourhood watches. Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and deputy prime minister, said too many neighbourhoods have been "starved of investment, despite their potential to thrive and grow". "Communities across the UK have so much to offer – rich cultural capital, unique heritage, but most of all, an understanding of their own neighbourhood," Rayner said."We will do things differently, our fully funded Plan for Neighbourhoods puts local people in the driving seat of their potential, having control of where the Whitehall cash goes – what issues they want to tackle, where they want to regenerate and what growth they want turbocharge." The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn MP, said the funding will be a "welcome boost" for those communities."This government is committed to supporting growth and public service transformation in Northern Ireland, and through the Budget we are delivering the largest real-terms funding settlement for Northern Ireland since devolution."In each area, the government will support the establishment of a new 'Neighbourhood Board', bringing together residents, local businesses, and grassroots campaigners to draw up and implement a new vision for their neighbourhood."The government's Plan for Neighbourhoods' ultimate aim is to create thriving places, strengthen communities, and empower local people to take back control in towns across the country."
