West Lindsey District Council has successfully been awarded £10 million from Central Government, as part of the “Levelling up” programme, it was announced in yesterday’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
Earlier this year, the Council submitted a bid to be awarded a share of the £4.8 billion Central Government fund, in order to help fund exciting plans to create a “thriving Gainsborough 2024.” The national scheme was created to support town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets.
It is hoped that this funding can fund local Gainsborough projects including improving Whittons Gardens, creating a new park at the Baltic Mill, building a new cinema, refurbishing the bus station, bringing an extension to our heritage led regeneration, creating new homes in the town centre above shops, and improving the Market Place as the centre piece of town where people can enjoy outdoor dining, visit our traditional twice weekly street market and meet with friends and family.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Owen Bierley, has expressed his delight at the latest Government announcement. He said:
“We are aware of how competitive this funding was, and how many local authorities had submitted proposals, so needless to say we are absolutely delighted that we have been awarded the full allocation of our bid. This amount of money can have a real benefit to our community, and I want to thank all the officers involved for putting together and submitting such a robust, strong plan.”
Sir Edward Leigh MP – who supported the bid and personally spoke to ministers to assist with the bid – added:
“This project will have an incredible impact on Gainsborough, offering a chance for the town to get investment that will really make people sit up and take notice. This town deserves it, and I am absolutely delighted and cannot wait to see the work taking place.”
Liberal Democrats Leader of the Opposition group, Cllr Trevor Young, said:
“We supported the authority in making this bid and we are committed to assisting as much as possible with the redevelopment of the town centre. We look forward to helping and seeing the plans now come to fruition.”
Chief Executive of West Lindsey District Council, Ian Knowles said:
“This announcement is testament to the hard work of officers across the council. With the support of our members, particularly those serving in Gainsborough, we will look to immediately use this funding to bring to life the projects we have carefully planned for. I want to thank everybody again for their hard work.”
Keep an eye on our website and social media accounts for further updates on this funding and project going forward.