Preliminary impression of how the redeveloped town centre might look
IT looks like a proposed revamp of Grimsby's Top Town might have to be scaled down. In its bid for monies from Whitehall's £830-million Future High Streets Fund, North East Lincolnshire Council had hoped for as much as £25-million. But the offer - and it is only provisional - is £17.3-million. What is more the cash will only be forthcoming if NELC demonstrates it can deliver the goods - a new market hall, a revised road lay-out, a cinema and a modicum of landscaping. A total of 72 towns are set to receive grants, with Sunderland (£25-million) and Birkenhead (£24-5-million) set to be the biggest beneficiaries. The Government hopes its fund will "support areas to recover from the pandemic and help transform underused town centres into vibrant places to live, work and shop". It says: "Investment will help these areas transform their high streets into vibrant hubs for future generations, at the same time protecting and creating thousands of jobs." Although NELC has not been offered as much as it sought, it is still a huge amount of money, especially compared with what some other town have been offered. Understandably, council leader Cllr Philip Jackson could scarcely be more upbeat. “We’re absolutely over the moon,"he enthuses. "We can take this work forward and help rebuild the economy of the town centre. "After a particularly difficult year for everyone, this is fantastic news." He continues: “We want to take everyone with us as we progress this plan.
"Change is not just desirable to recreate our town centre - it is vital, and this is Grimsby’s biggest and best chance to look at what is really required to create a new future and support wider local economic recovery." The 15 places who are receiving their funding requests in full are: - Tamworth Town Centre – Tamworth, £21,652,555
- Sunderland City Centre – Sunderland, £25,000,000
- Sutton – Sutton, £11,346,704
- Bishop Auckland – Durham, £19,856,853
- Blyth Town Centre – Northumberland, £11,121,059
- Kidderminster – Wyre Forest, £20,510,598
- Old Kent Road – Southwark, £9,605,854
- Swindon – Swindon, £25,000,000
- Stockport – Stockport, £14,500,000
- Winsford – Cheshire West and Chester, £9,980,000
- Sheffield High Street – Sheffield, £15,817,001
- Blackfriars, Northern City Centre – Worcester, £17,939,000
- Birkenhead – Wirral, £24,581,011
- Brierley Hill High Town Centre – Dudley, £9,985,689
- Stretford – Trafford, £17,605,674
The 57 places receiving provisional funding offers are: - Leamington Town Spa, Warwick (Warwickshire) – £10,015,121
- Nuneaton Town Centre, Nuneaton and Bedworth (Warwickshire) – £13,362,736
- Wolverhampton City Centre – £15,760,196
- Walsall – £11,439,967
- Newcastle-Under-Lyme – £11,048,260
- Stafford – £14,377,723
- Tottenham, Haringey – £10,019,648
- Woolwich Town Centre, Greenwich – £17,150,964
- Wealdstone, Harrow – £7,448,583
- Putney Town Centre, Wandsworth – £1,058,706
- Elland Town Centre, Calderdale (West Yorkshire) – £6,310,812
- Northallerton, Hambleton (North Yorkshire) – £6,085,013
- Rotherham – £12,660,708
- Halifax – £11,762,823
- Barnsley Towns Centre – £15,624,456
- Scunthorpe – £10,675,323
- New Ferry, Wirral – £3,213,523
- Wigan – £16,633,691
- Crewe – £14,148,128
- Rochdale (Greater Manchester) – £17,080,458
- Farnworth, Bolton (Greater Manchester) – £13,306,817
- Oldham – £10,750,237
- Kirkham Town Centre, Fylde – £6,290,831
- Maryport Town Centre, Allerdale – £11,527,839
- Carlisle City Centre – £9,129,874
- Plymouth City Centre – £12,046,873
- Barnstaple, North Devon – £6,548,876
- Newton Abbot, Teignbridge – £9,199,364
- Paignton, Torbay – £13,363,248
- Kingswood, South Gloucestershire – £12,555,464
- Salisbury City Centre – £9,355,731
- Penzance, Cornwall – £10,403, 112
- Trowbridge, Wiltshire – £16,347,056
- Yeovil – £9,756,897
- Taunton, Somerset – £13,962,981
- Loftus, Redcar and Cleveland – £5,833,628
- Middlesbrough Centre – £14,170,352
- Stockton – £16,543,812
- South Shields – £5,959,187
- Derby City Centre, St Peters Cross – £15,034,398
- Sutton-in-Ashfield (Nottinghamshire) – £6,279,872
- Grantham, South Kesteven (Lincolnshire) – £5,558,818
- Grimsby (North East Lincolnshire) – £17,280,917
- Nottingham City Centre, West End Point – £12,523,981
- Heanor, Amber Valley – £8,592,837
- Northampton – £8,442,730
- Buxton, High Peak – £6,608,223
- Dover Town Centre and Waterfront – £3,202,226
- Newhaven, Lewes – £5,004,939
- Chatham Town Centre, Medway – £9,497,720
- Ramsgate, Thanet – £2,704,213
- Commercial Road, Portsmouth (Hampshire) – £3,122,375
- Fratton, Portsmouth – £3,858,489
- High Wycombe – £11,886,876
- St Neots, Huntingdonshire – £3,748,815
- March High Street, Fenland – £6,447,129
- Great Yarmouth – £13,774,430
 | Vibrant - the council vision for a 'recreated' town centre
The Grimsby News says: On the face of it, this is fantastic news. So far, however, few commentators seem to be expressing the same enthusiasm as the council leader. Why? The attempt to revitalise the Riverhead end of Top Town flopped monumentally, so why should a similar scheme at the other end of Freshney Place fare any better? Sadly, regeneration schemes of this sort are seldom successful except in towns blessed with superb architecture or scenic landscape features - for example mountain backdrops or waterfronts such as bays, harbours or rivers. The sort of places which lift the spirits and where people wish to congregate, socialise and, crucially, spend money. Grimsby, alas, offers none of these attractions. And what really is the point of funding the nation's failing high streets when most are locked in an irreversible spiral of decline? It would have been far better if Whitehall had simply coughed up the cash for individual councils to spend as they saw most appropriate. Or better still, since it is public money, why not hand it straight to the public in the form of cash windfalls or shopping vouchers for distribution to all council tax payers? After all, they would appreciate best how they would like the money to be spent.
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