'Neglected' Wellingborough estate to receive £20m in funding to make the area 'safer and stronger'
Wellingborough’s Queensway estate is set to benefit from £20m of government funding in the next 10 years to make improvements to the ‘left behind area’.
Funding will be distributed to the local authority (North Northants Council) and independent boards, made up of community leaders, the local MP and councillors, will be set up in each of the areas and will determine how the money will be spent.
Gen Kitchen, MP for Wellingborough and Rushden, praised the move. She said: “I’ve been fighting hard for investment in the constituency so I’m thrilled that this hard work has paid off.
"Places like Queensway were neglected by the last government, now Labour is delivering for local people.”
As well as Queensway in Wellingborough, Avondale Grange in Kettering and Kingswood in Corby will also each see investment of £20m over the next decade, with each being labelled as a 'left behind area’ in 2021.
The funding will deliver £2 million every year for the next ten years to each of the areas, supporting local jobs, community facilities, green spaces and measures to make the area safer and stronger.
The move is part of the government’s new ‘Pride in Place’ programme, which hopes to give local communities the power to ‘revitalise their neglected high streets, create new spaces for young people and take back control of derelict pubs, to breathe new life into neglected communities up and down the country.’
Steve Reed, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said: “Building pride in place starts with people, not politics. Local people know what they want to see in their neighbourhoods – and they don’t need government to dictate it.
“This plan will spark an historic grassroots movement that will restore local people’s power, boost national pride and help people get on in life across the UK as part of our Plan for Change.”
The funding was announced for over 330 of the most deprived communities in the UK, with 146 new places announced today, focusing on smaller geographies.
The government says public consultations will follow to help shape how the money is invested.