Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins hopes the region will be able to finalise allocated regeneration funding arrangements under the new Labour Government after concerns have arisen about the future of a proposed £19.5m Town Deals scheme.
The former Conservative Government had been looking to provide nearly £20m of funding to be overseen by the Labour-led Chesterfield Borough Council over ten years but with a change to a new Labour Government and with a ‘tough’ autumn budget expected there are fears this scheme could be in jeopardy.
Labour MP Mr Perkins says he has met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Alex Norris, and pressed the case for the Town Deals application.
Mr Perkins added: “He has serious concerns about the approach that the previous Government was taking to these kind of projects but has acknowledged that Chesterfield’s bid was a particularly strong one and so I hope that in one form or other we will be able to attract the funding to deliver the changes needed to revitalise our town centre.
“All town centres have struggled with changes to shopping habits, the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, and this funding could help Chesterfield to develop our town centre offer really attractively.”
The Labour-controlled council’s Cabinet agreed to be part of the former Government’s new Long Term Plan for Towns scheme and to help prepare a 10-year Vision Statement and a three-year Investment Plan for Chesterfield under a Town Board to unlock the Town Deals funding stream.
Chesterfield was chosen as one of 55 towns in the UK to share in £1.1bn of former Government funding by agreeing to participate in the LTPfT programme which requires a Town Board of representatives to complete certain requirements to release £19.5m of Government funding for Chesterfield over the next 10 years.
Each chosen town was selected to receive up to £20m in funding and support over 10 years – overseen by the former Government’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – to be spent on projects that matter to people including regenerating High Streets and shops and securing public safety.
The council has already established a Town Board including community leaders, public sector and business representatives, a senior police representative and an MP to oversee the formulation and delivery of the long-term plan while supporting housing, licensing, restaurants, shops and regeneration.
Funding was earmarked to be released incrementally on the back of an initial three-year Investment Plan from the council and the Town Board with a Vision Statement unrolling over the next 10 years with guidance stating that funding would be released to towns incrementally with the flexibility to spend over the next 10 years.
The LTPfT’s three priority areas were identified as safety and security, High Streets and heritage and regeneration, and finally transport and connectivity including sustainable transport access for cycling and walking into the town centre.
Chesterfield Borough Council Leader, Cllr Tricia Gilby, had welcomed the scheme to support communities with hopes to improve lives and to make Chesterfield a thriving borough.
The council has also been working with board members to achieve initial goals with the submission of the 10-year Vision Statement and the three-year Investment Plan after it agreed to be responsible for the ‘robust financial management’ of the LTPfT’s £19.5m of funding for the Town Board.
However, before the General Election in July, opposition Liberal Democrat Group Group Leader, Borough Cllr Paul Holmes, had questioned how the council would be able to ‘future proof’ the LTPfT scheme with the prospect of changing Governments despite Cllr Gilby’s assurances that a General Election would not be expected to change the council’s priorities.
Conservative-controlled Derbyshire County Council is also waiting to hear from the Government’s Department for Transport on whether the £166m Chesterfield-Staveley Bypass regeneration project is still to go ahead.
The county council has been overseeing the Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route project which hopes to reduce traffic congestion, create new jobs and open up a growth corridor for businesses as part of a series of schemes for the region tied-up with the Staveley Vision Masterplan.
But the cash-strapped county council paused work in late 2023 on the planned 6km Chesterfield to Staveley Bypass project to await confirmation of any Government funding for the scheme.
And following the General Election, the new Labour Government claims it is facing a number of tough decisions after it has been left with a £22bn black hole in the public’s finances by the former administration.
Mr Perkins added: “We are aware that the new Government has inherited many different spending commitments and no identified way of paying for them and as such there are concerns about these two important projects.
“With regard to the bypass – this is long overdue and is vitally important to the regeneration of Staveley, alongside improving traffic flows for everyone.
“The project will generate growth and is likely to lead to thousands of new jobs and hundreds of new homes.
“The first task is to identify money to complete the detailed land investigation work which is needed to provide certainty on the costs of the clean-up and construction on a former industrial site.
“Only after that work, will there be clarity about the actual cost of the scheme. I will be stressing the importance of this to the new Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, alongside our new [East Midlands] Mayor Claire Ward and other local politicians and business leaders.”
Mr Perkins, Chesterfield Borough Council Leader Tricia Gilby and NE Derbyshire MP Louise Jones have all called on the Government to secure funding in the county council’s bid to get the Chesterfield to Staveley Bypass project up-and running after a recent site visit.
The borough council was also asked for a comment on the prospects for the £19.5m Town Deals scheme given the change of Government and with the pending autumn budget announcements but by the time of publication the council had not been able to provide a statement.
