Mansfield and Warsop MP Ben Bradley has welcomed the news that Mansfield has today been awarded a £20 million Town Deal. The money has been awarded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities who announced town deals for 55 towns totalling a total of £1.1 billion.
Under the new long-term Plan for Towns, communities will be empowered to take back control of their future by placing long-term decisions in the hands of local people. The £20 million comes in an endowment-style fund and will be delivered over 10 years.
This money will allow local Town Boards, made up of key stakeholders like community leaders, employers, local authorities and more to deliver the long-term plan for their area and put it to the people of Mansfield for consultation. These town boards will also have a suite of regeneration powers to unlock further private investment by auctioning empty shops and reforming licensing laws on shops and restaurants.
This announcement follows previous Levelling Up funding that Ben Bradley has helped to secure for Mansfield, such as the £20 million for the redevelopment of Beales and Mansfield town centre and £12 million from the government’s Towns Fund. This money has now been ringfenced for the area and now the Town Board, including Mr Bradley, will be asked to make plans to deliver positive local outcomes.
Ben has also been instrumental in securing other funding for landmark projects in Mansfield, such as the £76 million investment from Severn Trent into flood prevention in the town. This investment will transform Mansfield, protecting the area from flooding by installing about 15,000 green flood interventions across Mansfield and Warsop.
Commenting, Ben Bradley stated:
‘It is amazing news that Mansfield has been awarded another £20 million in Town Deal money. This means Mansfield has now been awarded over £50 million from just the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities alone. When combined with the funds we have secured elsewhere, this means that since I was elected in 2017 we have secured over £130 million in funding for Mansfield and Warsop. Our ever has just never had that kind of investment from central Government, and it gives us loads of opportunity to do things".
"I look forward to working with the government and all local stakeholders to utilise this new money and drive forward Mansfield’s Levelling Up. It's important that it's used to deliver positive outcomes where they're most needed, and not just taken by Mansfield District Council to sort out their financial problems. I'll be seeking to ensure that it's managed properly."
