'We'll reopen the chip shop!' Telford MP's delight as Rachel Reeves visits estate and pledges £20 million to end decline
Three deprived Telford estates are to share in a £20 million government boost over the next 10 years as part of a scheme to halt urban decline.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Communities Secretary Steve Reed visited the Park Lane Centre in Woodside today (Thursday) and announced £3.5 billion to be shared across 169 neighbourhoods across the country.
They met with Snow Hemmings, project officer at the centre, and three teenagers who were helping to run activities at the centre as part of a vocational training programme.
They said the money would be used to revive high streets, parks and public spaces. Communities will also be given new powers to save local pubs and libraries, and block unwanted betting and vape shops, as well as 'fake' barbers.
Woodside, Brookside and Sutton Hill will receive £2 million a year for the next decade, along with the Low Hill estate in Wolverhampton, Friar Park in Wednesbury, Blakenall in Walsall, and Birchen Coppice in Kidderminster.
The money in Telford will be boosted by an extra £1 million a year from Telford & Wrekin Council, after Telford MP Shaun Davies lobbied council leader Councillor Lee Carter.
The funding comes on top of an existing £1.5 billion, which is being shared across another 75 neighbourhoods. The money will be be distributed to local councils, but will be allocated by neighbourhood boards made up of the constituency MP and members of the community.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was an opportunity for 'true patriots' to reshape their communities.
Separately, a further 95 areas will receive an immediate £1.5 million cash injection to upgrade public spaces with new green spaces, play areas and sports and leisure facilities.
Councils will be given the opportunity to seize derelict buildings and boarded-up shops under Community Right to Buy and compulsory purchase powers.
Telford MP Mr Davies hailed the announcement as a 'game changer', and said over the summer he had spoken to 1,000 people in the area who all had their own ideas on how the money should be spent.
"Here in Woodside, what we've heard is that the fish and chip shop, which closed a few years ago, wasn't just a fish and chip shop: it was also a hub within the community, and that sense of community, that sense of pride is so important.
"So we will be bringing the fish and chip shop back here."
Mr Reed said the communities had been selected on the basis of deprivation levels, and the aim was to restore local pride.
"Those are the people who are most likely to see their high street in severe decline, so closed-down shops, metal shutters pulled down in front of them, perhaps a proliferation of vape shops, dodgy barbers where nobody seems to be going to get their hair cut, gambling shops and bookies. People feel absolute despair when they see their high street and their town centre turning into something like that.
"Multiple approaches from Westminster haven't worked, and the key problem is that local communities haven't had a big enough say. It's local people that know best, what needs to change to restore pride in their own area.
"Each area will get £20 million each, they decide how it's spent. But they also get new powers so they can limit the number of those kind of unwanted shops that are happening in the local area. They can use those compulsory purchase orders taking over those empty shops and turning them into something of value to the community, to bring the vibrancy back to the high street and restore that sense of pride."
What about HMOs?
When asked about the impact that the rising number of 'houses of multiple occupation' (HMOs) was having on communities such as Woodside, Mr Reed said local authorities now had the power to limit the number of these developments.
But he said the real problem was a shortage of housing, which was why the Government had set a target of building 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
Councillor Carter said afterwards: “We’re proud to be making a further £10 million local investment alongside this national funding, which itself is very welcome.
"From south Telford to Station Quarter, the new swimming pool in Dawley to the 3G pitches in Newdale, the New Gower in St Georges to the new theatre in Oakengates, this council is working in partnership with the Government and the MP for Telford to secure hundreds of millions of pounds in investment.
"Together, we’re delivering improvements that are helping to create a better Telford for everyone."
Prime Minister Sir Keir said it was important that people with "real skin in the game" decided how the money was spent.
“We’re investing in the UK’s future, by backing the true patriots that build our communities up in neighbourhoods across every corner of the country. Because it’s people who bring pride, hope and life to our communities," he said.
Miss Reeves said: “We’re giving local people the power to transform their home towns - giving them more control of how money is spent where they live so that together we can invest in Britain’s renewal and build an economy that rewards working people.
“This £5 billion investment doesn’t just reverse decades of underinvestment in our public infrastructure – it cuts through the bureaucracy by giving local people the power to deliver the change they want to see.”
