York city centre and Acomb Front Street will be the first two areas to benefit from a £5m pot of ‘levelling up’ funding for the city.
More than £400,000 is set to be spent by April in the two areas, with a focus on improving their appearance and making them more accessible and greener – with the aim of boosting footfall and lowering the number of empty shops.
York has been allocated £5.1m from the new UK shared prosperity fund, which was designed to replace EU funding post-Brexit.
The council has worked with public, private and community sector organisations and groups across the city to decide how the funding will be spent over the next three years.
It was decided that the city centre and Acomb Front Street would be prioritised this financial year, though Haxby will also benefit in coming years, according to a council report.
Plans to improve York’s ‘secondary shopping areas’ have been in the pipeline for several years, with York’s two biggest political parties, the Liberal Democrats and Labour, tussling over the issue.
Westfield ward councillor Simon Daubeney made the case for Front Street to benefit from the government cash to senior councillors in May.
But Labour have previously hit out at “the lack of progress” on regenerating the area.
Around £50,000 of council cash has already been spent in Acomb, including on the Christmas lights, Acomb Music and Dance Festival and on flower tubs.
Cllr Daubeney said: “Acomb’s Front Street plays a vital role in the local community and the wider city, and is home to many established and well-loved local retailers and community spaces.
“There is some progress being made in delivering improvements to the area, however, I and my ward colleagues appreciate that more funding is necessary.
“It’s excellent news that a significant portion of the shared prosperity fund will be going towards these improvements which will make a real difference to the area, supporting the community as well as local businesses.”
‘Never been priorities’
Works pencilled for the coming year in Acomb include replacing bollards, re-doing signage, drainage and pavements repairs and improving the external appearance of public toilets.
Work on dropped kerbs and further studies on accessibility are planned for the city centre.
York Labour group leader Cllr Claire Douglas said: “Significant investment has been talked about for Acomb Front Street for several years and what have local residents actually seen delivered by the Lib Dem led council since 2015? Little to nothing.”
She accused the Liberal Democrats of having “run out of ideas” and “failing the area.”
She added: “Their last significant intervention was to try and stop cycle lanes being introduced, while they previously refused to work with the Acomb and Westfield Community Forum to develop a neighbourhood plan for the area.
“This latest proposal reflects the fact that Westfield and Acomb have never been priorities in this council’s budget, and while welcome, this government funding is not going to deliver the level of investment to change the landscape for traders, many of whom are really struggling.”
Further details of how the shared prosperity fund cash will be spent will be outlined at executive member for finance and major projects Cllr Nigel Ayre’s decision session on Monday.
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