THE £20MILLION investment being put into Warndon West as part of the Government’s Pride in Place programme has been discussed by Worcester City Council, writes Sam Wadsworth.
Following the award of the cash, the local community will decide where the funding should be invested over a 10-year period.
A report was considered by the city council’s policy and resources committee on Tuesday to set out how the council establishes a Neighborhood Board consisting of local residents and stakeholders.
This board will decide how the cash will be used and how to wisely spend their funds on helping Warndon West to be become a thriving area with a strong community.
Coun Lynn Denham, Worcester City Council leader, said: “The Pride in Place programme is an incredible opportunity to give the people of Warndon West, otherwise known as Old Warndon, the chance to control their own destiny.
“It is the people of the area that will make the decisions about where and how up to £20million will be spent to improve their lives and their prospects for the future.”
The Government has set out that the themes of the investments should be – regeneration, high streets and heritage, housing, work, productivity and skills, cohesion, community power, health and wellbeing, transport, safety and security and education and opportunity.
Worcester MP Tom Collins said: “Pride in Place is about putting power in the hands of local people to shape where they live
“I’ve been meeting with local people and the ideas they already have are fabulous – things that will really make a difference in people’s everyday lives”
Once established, the board will create a regeneration plan and bring together local people and those with a deep connection to the area.
To raise awareness and to recruit members to the Neighborhood Board, the city council will be carrying out a major programme of community engagement.
This will include surveys, websites and social media and face-to-face engagement.
More details of these activities will be released in the coming weeks.
