Match funding means Kettering town centre regeneration investment could hit £4m

It was announced last week that Kettering Council has been successful in its bid to Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zone fund and will receive £1.98m to spend on refurbishing the town centre.

As part of the deal the council will need to match-fund the money – which means that altogether the town centre will have investment of just under £4m.

The borough council says it will go out to the private sector for investment and the match-funding can be monetary as well as payment in kind, for example equipment provision.

At the executive meeting on Wednesday (Sept 18) conservative leader Russell Roberts said the bid had been won after a lot of hard work by officers.

The expression of interest submitted by the council indicates the funds would go towards shop front refurbishments, grants to historic buildings, and grants to convert commercial buildings to residential. There will also be an education and cultural programme to celebrate the history of the historic high street.

The next step is for the council to work with Historic England on a business plan, with the money set to start coming in from April.

As part of the funding a new heritage action zone project manager will be employed to take charge of the scheme.