Welsh towns awarded £80m to secure better futures
The UK government have announced four towns in Wales will receive £20m as part of plans to level up the country.
Yesterday, the government unveiled that Merthyr Tydfil, Cwmbran, Barry, and Wrexham, which was previously granted city status, will receive funding as part of the £1.1bn levelling up investment being provided to 55 towns across the UK.
The money, which will be passed from the UK government to local authorities under a new approach that aims to put local people in charge of the places they live, will be overseen by local partners to ensure funding is used to its best ability.
As residents are being given more of a say in how their town is run, they will:
- Receive a ten-year endowment-style fund to be spent on local people’s priorities, like regenerating local high streets and town centres or securing public safety
- Set up a Town Board to bring together community leaders, employers and local authorities to deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town and put it to local people for consultation
The announcement has been welcomed with open arms as research has previously shown more than half of the UK live in towns that have half-empty high streets, run-down centres and anti-social behaviour that plagues the streets.
‘Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities,’ said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. ‘The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunity – and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.’
In similar news, at the beginning of this week seven Scottish towns were given £20m each to help regenerate high streets. The Prime Minister said the 10-year deal would put ‘funding in the hands of local people’ to improve communities.
The money is being distributed among Greenock, Irvine, Kilmarnock, Coatbridge, Cyldebank, Dumfries and Elgin.
However, commenting on the announcement, the Scottish government have said it was ‘extremely disappointing’ that it had not been consulted on how the money could be spent and were outraged to learn that funding will not be given to Holyrood – an area in Edinburgh that could benefit from levelling up.
Image: Neil Mark Thomas
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