South Ayrshire snubbed again as levelling up money for Kilmarnock hits £40m
Kilmarnock has added to the £20m it will get for a Cultural Quarter while South Ayrshire misses out for second time in a year.
Conservative-led South Ayrshire Council has been left empty handed as its Ayrshire neighbours secure levelling up funds for the second time this year.
Kilmarnock and Irvine will each receive £20m over the next decade as part of the Conservative UK Government’s latest levelling up fund, this time focussing on ‘overlooked towns’.
It means Kilmarnock has been awarded £40m this year, after it successfully bid for £20m to develop of a cultural quarter in January.
At the same time, a South Ayrshire bid for £20m for leisure and regeneration in Ayr was unsuccessful.
North Ayrshire has received around £43m after getting £23.5m in levelling up money to improve road links in 2021.
South Ayrshire Council leader Martin Dowey said he was disappointed by the news and added: “Unfortunately, none of our towns met the criteria.
“There is a lot of deprivation in Ayr North and, taken by itself, it would have qualified. However, it had to be the whole town.
“Other towns in South Ayrshire that would have qualified on deprivation, missed out because the towns had to have a population of at least 20,000.”
Cllr Dowey said that no authorities had been aware of the last funding that had been allocated on the basis of existing data.
He added: “While I am disappointed, the allocations are based on need, not politics and quite rightly so.”
Mr Dowey said the council would continue to seek levelling up funds after missing out in the last round earlier in the year.
A council spokesperson confirmed that there was no contact from the UK Government about this funding.
They said: “Officers were not aware of any proposals to provide this funding and are engaging with UK Government to understand the award criteria and the arrangements for future Levelling Up Fund bids.”
Allan Dorans, the SNP MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, said he was disappointed by the news and said it was unfair towns in his constituency missed out on the latest funding.
He insisted: “It seems particularly unfair that Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, and Irvine in North Ayrshire have been awarded significant funding when other areas including South Ayrshire have received nothing.
“These awards were made by the UK Government without any consultation with the Scottish Government, local MPs or MSPs who were unable to have any say on where the money would be best invested or given the opportunity to make a case for funding of our local towns.”
The Conservative Government announced the fund on Sunday. Seven of the 55 towns included in the report are in Scotland.
The UK Government said: “The government will work with local councils and the devolved administrations to determine how towns in Scotland and Wales will benefit from funding and powers under the long-term plans.
“Under the new approach, local people, not Whitehall-based politicians, will be put in charge, and given the tools to change their town’s long-term future.”
The programme ill see a ten year £20m ‘endowment style’ fund to be spent on local people’s priorities.
Town Boards will be set up to ‘bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP, to deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town and put it to local people for consultation.’
The UK Government statement indicates that a ‘suite of regeneration powers’, including licensing reform and auctions will entice more private sector investment.
It says the latest fund will ‘complement’ the wider levelling up programme.
The Long-Term Plan for Towns will require town boards to develop their own long-term plan for their town, with funding over 10 years and aligned to the issues that research shows people want the most, including:
- Improving transport and connections
- Tackling crime and anti social behaviour
- Enhancing town centres