Levelling up for Bristol and North Somerset

The government has recently awarded a total of 111 areas in the UK a share of £2.1 billion from round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund.  Bristol and North Somerset have two schemes provisionally awarded monies for levelling up.

The aim of the fund is to contribute to the levelling up agenda by investing in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK. The improvements are to include:

• regenerating town centres and high streets
• upgrading local transport
• investing in cultural and heritage assets

With this in mind, the two schemes provisionally awarded monies for levelling up are:

• Levelling up for Bristol – transforming Filwood Broadway (Bristol City Council)
• Levelling up for North Somerset – future of Weston-super-Mare (North Somerset Council)

Levelling up for Bristol is transforming Filwood Broadway (Bristol City Council) – £14,536,470

The Filwood Broadway site includes:

• Developing land into “high-quality housing, community, and commercial space”
• A “dynamic cultural hub” with outdoor space for sports and play areas.

Whilst it is widely recognised that the area is in need of investment, there is growing concern amongst residents that, the council have used a plan that is over 10 years old and the areas needs have moved on since the plan was produced.

“if not now, when”? – a bid to the Levelling Up fund for the future of Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset – £19,797,570

Weston-super-Mare includes:

• Tropicana Site (8,000 capacity events space).
• The Marine Lake to develop year-round facilities for food and drink
• Weston town centre to create more flexible spaces and attract independent high quality retailers
• Birnbeck Pier – Improve and bring back into use buildings at the shore end of Birnbeck Pier
• Grove Park – Improve the entrance to the town centres green space and repurpose  the parks buildings after they are vacated by Weston Town Council

Disagreements about how and where the Levelling Up Fund is directed and how it is spent will continue to be ongoing for many years. This is because local residents have different objectives and views. However, there is no doubt that if spent wisely both areas will benefit from this round of investment.

The government has yet to confirm that there will be a Round 3 but it is likely that there will be one, with Local Authorities able to make bids in 2023.

Where would you make an application for funding for in your local authority and what type of investment would you want them to consider?

For more information on levelling up funds and successful bidders click the link below

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-round-2-successful-bidders

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