Chesterfield set to benefit from nearly £20m of Government funding for the town

The Labour-controlled council’s Cabinet has agreed to be part of the Government’s new Long Term Plan for Towns scheme and to help prepare a 10-year Vision Statement and a three-year Investment Plan for Chesterfield under a Town Board to unlock the funding stream.

Council Leader, Cllr Tricia Gilby, said: “The real reason we are doing this is because we believe in putting our communities first and in terms of the council’s priorities set out in the Council Plan for the next four years the development and delivery of the LTPfT will support our aims embedded in making Chesterfield a thriving borough and improving the quality of life for local people.”

Chesterfield has been chosen as one of 55 towns in the UK to share in £1.1bn of Government funding by agreeing to participate in the LTPfT programme which requires a Town Board of representatives to complete certain requirements to release £19.5m of Government funding for Chesterfield over the next ten years.

Each chosen town will receive up to £20m in funding and support over ten years – overseen by the Government’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – to be spent on projects that matter to people including regenerating High Streets and shops and securing public safety.

The council will have to help establish a Town Board including community leaders, public sector and business representatives, a senior police representative and an MP to oversee the formulation and delivery of the long-term plan while supporting housing, licensing, restaurants, shops and regeneration.

Funding will be released incrementally on the back of an initial three-year Investment Plan from the council and the Town Board with a Vision Statement unrolling over the next ten years.

Guidance states that this funding will be released to towns over the next seven years with the flexibility to spend over the next 10 years.

The LTPfT’s three priority areas have been identified as safety and security, High Streets and heritage and regeneration, and finally transport and connectivity including sustainable transport access for cycling and walking into the town centre.

Cllr Gilby added: “Chesterfield Borough Council has played a role in the past to make sure there are good cycling and walkways into the town centre and we all know where the weaknesses are.”

The council has already identified businessperson Dominic Staniforth, of Barber, Harrison and Platt Chartered Accountants, to become Chesterfield’s LTPfT Board Chairperson, and the council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Amanda Serjeant, has been nominated as the council’s Town Board representative.

An inaugural Chesterfield LTPfT Board meeting is scheduled for April 29 to outline the LTPfT Board and rubber-stamp numerous administrative requirements and the council will be working with board members to achieve initial goals with the submission of a 10-year Vision Statement and the three-year Investment Plan by August 1.

The council will be responsible for the ‘robust financial management’ of the LTPfT’s £19.5m of funding for the Town Board which is something it has already been doing with other key projects across the borough including the Government-funded £25.2m Staveley Town Deal regeneration fund.

Opposition Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Cllr Paul Holmes, questioned how the council would be able to ‘future proof’ the LTPfT scheme with the prospect of changing Governments during a period of three potential General Elections.

Cllr Gilby said these were the kind of challenges that Local Government faces on a regular basis and that a General Election would not be expected to change the council’s priorities and the LTPfT scheme is ‘spot on with the Council Plan’.

She added: “Chesterfield Borough Council… has shown a great deal of skill and management in this type of programme and therefore we will do our best to manage it and pull out a good outcome for the people of Chesterfield.”

The Cabinet voted in agreement for the various preparatory measures to be taken forward to enable the release of £19.5m of Government LTPfT funding over the next 10 years for Chesterfield.

Chesterfield Borough Council has stressed that the local authority also remains determined to continue with many of its other ambitious growth strategy plans for 2024.

These already include the Chesterfield Waterside scheme with residential and business developments, the Revitalising Heart of Chesterfield scheme to boost the town centre, The Stephenson Memorial Hall renovation and the £25.2m Staveley Town Deal regeneration scheme.

Others include The Derbyshire Rail Industry Innovation Vehicle Centre at Barrow Hill, The Town Centre Masterplan and the new Barrow Hill Train Line.