MP Chris Webb confident of finally landing £20m for South Shore

Blackpool’s South Shore could be set for a £20 million investment after consistent lobbying by MP Chris Webb.

The Blackpool South Labour MP says he is “very confident” that the district – listed as being one of the most deprived in the country, will be included in the next round of Pride in Place funds.

The Pride in Place scheme has already seen Layton and Grange Park being selected for this community-led initiative, with £20m of government funding being delivered over the next 10 years for projects decided by a board of residents.

When the scheme was first launched back in November, there was a cap on the project which designated that only one district per constituency would be eligible to receive the fund.

But Mr Webb has argued that Blackpool is something of a special case in that it has four wards among the country’s 20 most deprived areas, and he has been putting the case for South Shore.

He says current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is to step down and looks set to be succeeded by Andy Burnham, agreed that the cap should be lifted when they discussed it back in May.

FUNDING CAP LIFTED

Mr Webb said on Friday: “With the 20million Pride in Place, what we had was the Grange Park and Layton scheme, which featured at number 2 on the national list, with South Shore being at number 5.

“However, there was a constituency lock which meant that only one Pride in Placepot would be issued to one constituency, yet for Blackpool we had four wards in the top 20 and ten overall.

“So I took the case to the Prime Minister four months ago and after that meeting, Keir lifted the constituency cap on Pride in Place.

“Now, with the next Pride of Place on the next round of funding I am very confident – and hopefully this will be announced in the Budget, continuing under Andy Burnham – that South Shore will be included in that next round.

“We’ll have to see, becausr under the next Prime Minister things could change, but I’m confident we will get that fund for South Shore.”

In terms of a time scale, Mr Webb said the next Budget was likely to be announced in the Autumn.

South Shore has already been designated a £1m share of another pot of money, a £1.5 pride in Place Impact Fund, with Mr Webb working alongside Blackpool Council to help deliver for smaller-scale projects.

Projects include support for young people and youth-focused provision, improvements to the street scene and public realm, infrastructure upgrades, support for local businesses, revitalisation of buildings and neglected sites and creation and improvement of community spaces.

The MP says more investment is to come across Blackpool, not just South Shore, citing the Government’s £20m support to explore his proposals for a world -class, 15,000 seat arena for the Central area of town.

With Blackpool bidding for the City of Culture 2029 status, the MP says the town is beginning to look up again.

Mr Webb added: “Blackpool has been ignored for too long but we are starting to have our voice heard, with major projects on their way.”