High streets and public spaces to get funding boost in bid to reverse decline of local communities
New funding to boost high streets and improve public spaces will help to reverse the decline of local communities, the Government hopes.
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has pledged £319 million to "restore pride and opportunity in neighbourhoods across the country".
Communities Secretary Steve Reed said people have watched their communities decline "for too long".
"This Government is determined to change that - giving communities the tools, the funding and the power they need to rebuild," he added.
"From new playgrounds to reimagined high streets, we're putting power back in people's hands.
"People across the country will see and feel the difference this investment makes, restoring pride in local areas."
Mr Reed announced £20 million in funding for 40 communities in England on Friday where he insisted the announcement, seven weeks before May's elections, was not a pre-election bung aimed at wavering votes.
Funding under the Pride in Place programme includes:
- £301 million to transform town centres into mixed-use spaces with new homes, health services, libraries, community hubs and green spaces
- £18 million to improve playgrounds in some of the most deprived communities
- £20 million over 10 years for communities to spend on "what matters most to them"
The Government said examples of Pride in Place plans include a new community hub in Clifton, an enforcement and prevention team in Dewsbury and an enterprise hub in Greenock.
On Friday, Mr Reed told the Press Association ministers are trying to help areas that were "held back the most under the Conservatives".
He added: "This is a rolling programme that Labour introduced as soon as we won the general election.
"What we're trying to do is give those areas that were held back the most under the Conservatives the chance to make a difference on their own terms, to put pride back into those communities."