Disappointment as government fails to support Ipswich's Levelling Up bid
Ipswich Borough Council will not receive the £ 18 million they were going to use to update sports facilities
Last updated 23rd Jan 2023
The Government has announced that it will not be supporting Ipswich Borough Council’s 'Levelling Up' bid.
Meaning Ipswich Borough council will not receive the £ 18 million they were going to use to update faculties like Gainsborough sports centre and Broomhill Lido
We spoke to the Leader of Ipswich Borough Council David Ellesmere, he told us he doesn't understand why their Bid was denied.
"We've only just got the news. So we're we're taking stock of of of our position.
"We've got to be realistic. This was £18 million that we were looking for from the government and you know it's hard to think of where else we might get that funding from.
"There's the government has said there's gonna be another round of levelling up funding. So we will await that with interest. But there's no time scale on that.
"But the problem is- and there's been a lot of comment nationally about the whole levelling our process- It is very, very opaque.
"The government, never really has published firm criteria of what would be successful or what wouldn't be.
"As we've seen, the large majority of schemes and bids that were put in, were unsuccessful.
"Nobody's got any idea why they were unsuccessful or why the successful ones got the money."
What was the reaction when you found out?
Leader of Ipswich Borough Council David Ellesmere told us they were upset at the outcome.
"We were very, very disappointed that another facet of the levelling up processes. There's a lot of effort that needs to go into putting a bid together, especially for something the size of £15 million, which was for Gainsborough.
"We've had a lot of people putting a lot of time and effort into putting this bid together.
"People are really excited by the proposals. We've had a lot of support from sporting organizations in the town, they were really excited about what we've been planning.
"So there is a huge amount of disappointment and letdown. And I think everybody thought we put a really good bid together and that, we stood a really good chance of success.
"So yeah, everybody's a little bit deflated at the moment but these projects are still there."
Will the plans still go ahead?
We asked David, what happens now? Will the plans for these facilities go ahead?
"We've got to try and deliver them. We just you know we scratching our heads at the moment about how we might do that. But we want to do our best for the town.
"We're going to have to talk to Fusion and also the Heritage Lottery Fund, who were the other main funders to see what we can do in that project.
"But as things stand, unless we can get some extra money for that project, it won't be able to go ahead.
"Similarly, the Gainsborough Sports Center project was a very ambitious plan to replace the current Sports Center with a brand new Sports Center, new athletics track, and new gymnastics centre.
"It was a really first-class scheme, but it required significant funding from the government again because there's a large element of borrowing in that.
"And those costs are absolutely rocketing at the moment.
"So again, being realistic, without that funding from the government or somebody else, that project not going to be able to go ahead on the same basis that we were planning."
Everything about it is unclear
David told us he doesn't understand why some places received funding and others didn't.
"It's not a good way of distributing money to local areas. We're seeing areas, such as the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunaks constituency, one of the most affluent areas in the north, getting £20 million.
"Whereas areas with strong deprivation like Ipswich, like Lowestoft being refused them by the government. And I think everybody scratching their heads.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has denied the accusation the funding allocations were motivated to try and gain more support and Tory seats
He said "I think around half the funding we have announced over the course of today, or both funds, has actually gone to places that are not controlled by Conservative MPs or councils,
I don't think anyone can say it's being done on that basis, there's a completely objective, transparent criteria."
David also told us that Ipswich Borough Council is going to try to put forward another Bid in round 3 of allocations.