It was my pleasure to recently welcome my colleague Neil O’Brien MP, the Levelling Up Minister, to Copeland to see the levelling up agenda in action in 2022.
We visited Millom and Cleator Moor, where £20.6million and £22.5million respectively have been pledged through the Government’s Towns Fund.
To have two of our four towns in the Copeland borough receive Towns Fund grants is a phenomenal achievement, and the amounts pledged per capita are among the highest in the UK. The grants themselves combine to over £43 million, which will leverage millions more in match-funding and investment into our communities.
The respective Town Boards have been working extremely hard, in conjunction with Copeland Council, on their full business cases that will be submitted this year to draw down the funding from Government.
In Millom, the Board has reached the crucial assurance stage, where details of the four projects are being checked to ensure they represent viable, sustainable models for the future.
The Board made up of community representatives has identified and publicised its four projects – The Iron Line (creation of a visitor attraction and recreational space), Reactivating Heritage Buildings (in Millom town centre), Activating Community Health (with a new leisure hub including a swimming pool and 3G pitch), and Connected Millom and Haverigg (to improve the transport network and walking/cycling infrastructure).
These projects will be transformational for the area for generations to come, and I look forward to further details being made public very soon.
But in the meantime, the £500,000 of ‘accelerated funding’ committed ahead of the full package is already making a significant difference to the community. This includes the fantastic new children’s play area and running track at the school – and this is just the start of what are exciting times for Millom, Haverigg and the local community.
2022
