- Local people to make decisions on how funding will transform
high streets, save treasured local facilities and build pride in
their local area
- £214 million in new funding for Wales as part of a decade of
renewal through the Plan for Change
- UK Government Pride in Place funding going to every local
authority in Wales
Residents across Wales will be able to save treasured pubs or
libraries and clean up eyesores in their area through a
multi-million Pride in Place programme, launched by the Prime
Minister today. Alongside this record investment, there
will be a revolutionary new approach to delivering the money,
with communities calling the shots on where and how money is
spent to clean up their communities and revitalise their high
streets.
It will give communities control, with the financial firepower to
put right the things that matter to them.
This money will empower local people to tackle the issues that
are blighting their communities – whether that's cleaning up
graffiti or tackling anti-social behaviour – as well as funding
to help support community cohesion.
The Pride in Place programme will see nine more communities who
are most in need receive up to £20 million each. These areas will
join five communities where work is already underway, taking the
total to fourteen local authorities across Wales sharing £280
million.
The additional places to receive £20 million each are:
- Blaenau Gwent
- Neath Port Talbot
- Newport
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Caerphilly
- Carmarthenshire
- Conwy
- Cardiff
- Swansea
On top of this every local authority in Wales will receive a
share £34.5 million of capital funding to improve their public
spaces, including fixing broken bus shelters, reopening park
toilets, more bins to help stop litter and revamping run-down
leisure centres
This new investment builds on previous announcements and takes
the total funding from these funds for Welsh communities to over
£300 million. This is on top of the work done by the Welsh
Government's Transforming Towns and Placemaking Initiatives.
Prime Minister said:
We're investing in the UK's future, by backing the true patriots
that build our communities up in neighbourhoods across every
corner of the country. Because it's people who bring pride, hope
and life to our communities.
This is a huge investment, but what matters most is who decides
how it's spent: the neighbours, volunteers and parents who know
their communities best – the people with real skin in the game.
We're choosing renewal over decline, unity over division. This is
or Plan for Change in action – giving power and pride back to the
people who make Britain great.
Secretary of State for Wales said:
The UK Government is laser-focused on delivering economic growth
and providing opportunity for all and the Pride in Place
programme is a key part of us doing that.
More than £200 million of new investment will see improvements
made to communities up and down Wales making them even greater
places to live and work.
We want to work with all our partners to make improvements that
matter to local people and deliver jobs and prosperity.
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government,
said:
Building pride in place starts with people, not politics. Local
people know what they want to see in their neighbourhoods – and
they don't need government to dictate it.
This plan will spark an historic grassroots movement that will
restore local people's power, boost national pride and help
people get on in life across the UK as part of our Plan for
Change.”
In Wales, local authorities will be invited to propose the
communities within their areas to participate in the Pride in
Place Programme for UK Government approval. This will be an
inclusive process where the local authority will engage with
local stakeholders including MPs, MSs and the Welsh Government to
ensure local fit and alignment with existing schemes such as
placemaking plans and the Transforming Towns initiative.
