- Burnley’s £20 million Levelling Up Fund Bid successful
- Investment in education, public realm works and upgrades to transport links.
Regeneration of Burnley has been given the green light in today’s Budget with £20 million of investment for the borough secured from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.
The bid, placed by Antony Higginbotham MP, in conjunction with Burnley Council in July of this year, marks the biggest cash injection in the town in well over a decade and will mean major improvements in local infrastructure; developing the area between Turf Moor and the town centre, a big expansion of Uclan at Trafalgar and further upgrades to Manchester Road Train station.
Combined, the plan is to connect expanded education facilities at the UClan campus, through the town centre with the new Pioneer Place development and on to Turf Moor to create an economic corridor running directly from one side of the town to the other. This is on top of further improvements to transport infrastructure at Manchester Road train station.
Welcoming the announcement, Burnley and Padiham MP Antony Higginbotham said:
I’ve been pushing for the levelling up agenda to be brought to our area since I was elected and so I’m delighted that my mission to level-up Burnley and Padiham is now being reflected in the Government’s funding priorities.
This £20 million investment will be truly transformative. It will open up yet more opportunities for young people to get a world class education by linking Burnley College with an expanded Uclan campus, improve the public realm from the Turf to the town centre, driving fans from around the country into the heart of Burnley to support our hospitality businesses, and further improve the transport links with a new bridge connecting both platforms at Manchester Road train station - something I promised I would see delivered.
And all this is on top of the work being done to transform the old Pioneer Place in to a modern and attractive retail and leisure destination which the Government has already invested £3.6 million in to through the Getting Building Fund.
Burnley and Padiham is on the up. And no longer will our borough be forgotten.
As well as the successful Levelling Up Fund bid the whole of the northwest will also benefit from its share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is focused on helping people into jobs and supporting businesses, including giving hundreds of thousands of adults the opportunity to develop their numeracy skills though the adult numeracy programme, Multiply and a new £660 million Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund from additional funding for the British Business Bank.
Transport links are also set for more funding, with 32.6 billion for local upgrades over this Parliament, including the A595 Grizebeck Bypass in Cumbria and £24 billion for strategic roads investment, including the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine.