Councillors Lesley Rennie and Ian Lewis have welcomed almost £11 million in cash for Liscard Town Centre, as part of the latest round of Levelling Up Funding to tackle decades of neglect of the town.
The project was drawn from the impressive pool of bids which narrowly missed out in the second round of funding, but were assessed as high-quality and able to deliver quickly for local people.
In total, the third round of the Levelling Up Fund has awarded nearly £1 billion to 55 projects across the country, including £150 million to develop better transport links across the country and £825 million to kick-start regeneration in town centres.
Councillor Lesley Rennie said:
“After decades of neglect of Wallasey by Wirral Council, I’m delighted that they have, at long last, realised that something must be done and that the Government has agreed to back them.
“In the last few years, Wirral Council has received almost £100 million in regeneration cash and, so far, most of it has been used for Birkenhead. I’d hope this news today is the beginning of a serious change of approach by the Council and will see real work to deal with the decline of Wallasey’s main shopping centre.”
Councillor Ian Lewis added: “In spite of the best efforts of the shops and businesses in Wallasey, the neglect of the town centre has been a frequent complaint on the doorstep. The impact of changes in shopping habits has been made worse by poor council decisions, whether in planning, parking or transport."
"I would hope now that this £10.7 million won’t be wasted on branding and logos, but will be the start of genuine regeneration of the area. It also calls into question the current proposals to route a cycle lane through the middle of the shopping area.”
Commenting, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said:
“Levelling up means delivering local people’s priorities and bringing transformational change in communities that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued.
“Today we are backing 55 projects across the UK with £1 billion to create new jobs and opportunities, power economic growth, and revitalise local areas.
“This funding sits alongside our wider initiatives to spread growth, through devolving more money and power out of Westminster to towns and cities, putting in place bespoke interventions to places that need it most, and our Long-Term Plan for Towns.”
