The government has announced 72 major streets across England selected for £ 831m of investment to help recover from the effects of a coronavirus pandemic and to protect jobs.
Robert Jenrick, community secretary, said the money would help “our much-loved town centers through this and future prosperity”. However, the Labor party said the government had initially pledged £ 1bn when it launched the future High Street Fund.
“The coming year will be a big year on the high street as it struggles to overcome, change and recover from the pandemic,” said Jenrick. “Today’s £ 830m investment from the Future High Street Fund is one of many ways the government is working to help our popular city centers get through this and succeed in the future. future.
“The role of the main street has changed. We want to support that change and make sure they are at the heart of their local community – with high quality housing and leisure as well as shops and restaurants. “
Jenrick said the money – first pledged in 2018 to help major streets fight long before the pandemic of coronavirus – would help us to recover better and making town centers a more attractive place to live, work and visit ”.
The government described the injection of money as an “important milestone for the government’s level agenda”. “The funding will help these areas to turn their high streets into vibrant centers for future generations and to protect and create thousands of jobs,” said the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Swindon and Sunderland are to receive the largest sum – £ 25m each – to fund a “boulevard bus” in the town of Wiltshire and to improve Sunderland railway station in the 1960s.
Fifteen towns and cities will receive all their money, worth a total of £ 255m. A further 57 areas have received temporary funding offers totaling £ 576m.
The total £ 831m is £ 169m short of the £ 1bn promised by Boris Johnson in August 2019 that would “regenerate and transform” more than 100 high streets across the country. Johnson had said that in the future the High Streets Fund would support more than 100 high streets.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said £ 107m of the money lost had been transferred to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to fund major heritage regeneration. She said an additional £ 15.1m had been spent on helping 101 local authorities make their bids for the money. Some of the remaining money was spent on “developing a new parking code”, she said.
Some high streets that were shortlisted by the prime minister in August 2019 were not selected to receive any money. These include Barrow, Blackpool, Bideford and Runcorn.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “We are supporting our main streets to get through this pandemic through business donations, the payment of people’s wages and tax delays.
“The future High Street Fund will help areas kick back through regeneration projects that level opportunities and create jobs across the country. ”
Projects selected for funding included £ 17.9m for the refurbishment of Scala Theater and Corn Exchange in Worcester, a scheme to build 186 homes in Birkenhead and a plan to build vacant retail units in Tamworth, County Stafford, turned into community venues.
Jeremy Oates, Tamworth town council’s cabinet member for heritage and growth, said: ““ The projects could not just be a matter of tidying up an outdoor space or adding hanging baskets, the government says. look for large-scale and transformative change, in a way that recognizes the changing place of the city center and enables it to survive and prosper according to what people want. Our application includes a number of very exciting projects which aim to lay the right foundations for a town center that is at the heart of the community. ”
The government was prompted to launch the scheme by Sir John Timpson, owner of the so-called shoe repair chain. He had called on councils to turn more money into town centers into communities and meeting places, showing that the high streets were not just about buying.
“By helping our towns to create their own unique community center,” said Timpson at the time, “I believe we will have a vibrant town center to provide a much-needed place for face-to-face communication. in the digital age. ”
Full list of main streets
15 places were selected to receive all the money they requested
1. Tamworth £ 21,652,555
2. Sunderland £ 25,000,000
3. Sutton £ 11,346,704
4. Bishop of Auckland £ 19,856,853
5. Blyth £ 11,121,059
6. Kidderminster £ 20,510,598
7. Old Kent Road, Southwark £ 9,605,854
8. Swindon £ 25,000,000
9. Stockport £ 14,500,000
10. Winsford £ 9,980,000
11. Sheffield £ 15,817,001
12. Blackfriars, Worcester £ 17,939,000
13. Birkenhead £ 24,581,011
14. Brierley Hill £ 9,985,689
15. Stretford £ 17,605,674
Another 57 places will be awarded temporary funding offers
1. Leamington Spa £ 10,015,121
2. Nuneaton £ 13,362,736
3. Wolverhampton £ 15,760,196
4. Walsall £ 11,439,967
5. Newcastle-under-Lyme £ 11,048,260
6. Stafford £ 14,377,723
7. Tottenham £ 10,019,648
8. Woolwich £ 17,150,964
9. Weald Stone– £ 7,448,583
10. Putney– £ 1,058,706
11. Elland £ 6,310,812
12. Northallerton £ 6,085,013
13. Rotherham £ 12,660,708
14. Halifax £ 11,762,823
15. Barnsley £ 15,624,456
16. Scunthorpe £ 10,675,323
17. New Ferry, Wirral – £ 3,213,523
18. Wigan £ 16,633,691
19. Crewe £ 14,148,128
20. Rochdale £ 17,080,458
21. Farnworth, Bolton £ 13,306,817
22. Oldham £ 10,750,237
23. Kirkham, Fylde – £ 6,290,831
24. Maryport, Allerdale – £ 11,527,839
25. Carlisle £ 9,129,874
26. Plymouth £ 12,046,873
27. Barnstable £ 6,548,876
28. Aba Newton £ 9,199,364
29. Paignton £ 13,363,248
30. King’s Forest £ 12,555,464
31. Salisbury £ 9,355,731
32. Penzance £ 10,403, 112
33. Trowbridge £ 16,347,056
34. Yeovil £ 9,756,897
35. Taunton £ 13,962,981
36. Loftus £ 5,833,628
37. Middlesbrough £ 14,170,352
38. Stockton £ 16,543,812
39. South Wings £ 5,959,187
40. Derby, St. Peters Cross £ 15,034,398
41. Sutton-in-Ashfield £ 6,279,872
42. Grantham £ 5,558,818
43. Grimsby £ 17,280,917
44. Nottingham, West End Point £ 12,523,981
45. Heanor £ 8,592,837
46. Northampton £ 8,442,730
47. Buxton £ 6,608,223
48. Dover £ 3,202,226
49. Newhaven £ 5,004,939
50. Chatham £ 9,497,720
51. Ramsgate £ 2,704,213
52. Commercial Road, Portsmouth £ 3,122,375
53. Fratton, Portsmouth £ 3,858,489
54. Wycombe high £ 11,886,876
55. St. Neots £ 3,748,815
56. March, Fenland £ 6,447,129
57. Great Yarmouth £ 13,774,430