Politicians hail £20 million fund given to ‘left behind’ Spalding
Leaders have welcomed a £20 million fund that is being given to turn around the fortunes of ‘left behind’ Spalding.
The town was one of 55 across the country to share a £1.1 billion fund unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – with attention now turning on how to use the ten-year cash pot to give Spalding a boost.
The Government accepts that towns such as Spalding have been ‘overlooked and taken for granted’ – and that problems will get worse unless they are addressed.
It’s expected that the money can help address anti-social behaviour, tidy the town up and improve transport – but a new board will be set up with businesses and community leaders to determine where it’s spent.
MP Sir John Hayes will also be on the board. He said: “Small town Britain has struggled post Covid and online shopping hasn’t helped. We can do a lot with this.”
He said it was ‘great news’ for our area and showed the Government has listened to calls for rural areas not to be ignored.
He pointed to the separate £20 million ‘levelling up’ funding received to revamp the Castle Sports Complex and added: “In terms of Government funding, no-one can any longer claim that our area is ‘being left behind’.”
South Holland District Council leader Nick Worth said the announcement was ‘fantastic news for Spalding’ – and felt that the ‘timing is really good’, given the existing move to form a new business group for the town.
He stressed that the council was merely the ‘administrators’ and that it was the town to decide where the money goes.
District opposition leader Rob Gibson, of South Holland Independents, felt the news was a knock-on effect of his group’s strong performance in the May elections, which left only two of Spalding’s 11 seats in the hands of Conservatives.
Coun Gibson said: “I think it is fantastic and I think that goes to show what happens when you don’t vote for the ruling party and give them a scare at the local elections.
“Our town is crying out for something and it hasn’t had investment. We have a Conservative Government, a Conservative county council and Conservative district council, I don’t see a lot of effort to look after this area.
“Having a Conservative safe seat is a problem that is why we don’t get a lot of inward investment. The best thing people can do is not give them a safe seat and hopefully they will look after us more.”
He said that the priorities should be regenerating the town centre to attract people from Springfields as well as something for the teenagers and action on empty shops.
What do you think? What would be your priority for spending the money? Post your comments below or email andrew.brookes@iliffepublishing.co.uk
