Eight themes for £20m Grimsby improvements
The money is to stengthen neighbourhoods
Eight themes, as chosen by the public, are shaping how £20m investment in Grimsby over 10 years will be spent. The town is to get from next year the first tranche of the Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods cash.
This funding involves a focus on communities deciding how the investment in their area is spent, meaning it is not a council-only led scheme. The Grimsby Together project held a public event in late September for specific suggestions on how to spend the future £20m.
Grimsby Together is a partnership between the council, community and Greater Grimsby Board, and aided by Our Future, an organisation that invests itself in supporting communities to effect long-term change. A survey held by Our Future last year helped highlight Grimsby residents’ priorities for the town’s future.
The survey had 1,100 different responses and over 56,000 votes cast for priorities for the funding, and 790 ideas submitted on how to spend the money. Eight themes have been identified from that feedback under which the investment could go towards.
These are:
Thriving Business & Connected Town Centre. Beautiful Built Environment. Green Economy. Connected to Nature. Arts & Culture. Secure Homes & Lives. Strong & Welcoming Community. Opportunities & Education. September’s Grimsby Together public event at Grimsby Central Hall sought to get more specific ideas on what Grimsby people want to see. Since the survey last year, a series of working groups have also been held with local leaders.
“The working groups have been set up on the back of the work we started last year,” said Spencer Hunt, the council’s assistant director for safer and stronger places. “I have been astounded by the amount of engagement and the people that have been wanting to get involved in this.
“We had over 80 applications to join those groups,” he said, “which shows the kind of strength of feeling and passion local people have got” for their town. A range of ideas will be put into an investment plan to submit to Government by the end of November, with a future event to get public feedback on specific ideas due in October.
“For me this is about the Government enabling local towns to come forward with tangible things that kind of demonstrate their aspiration for their local area,” said Mr Hunt of the £20m spend over 10 years for the town. Our Future’s CEO, Emily Bolton, reiterated: “All of the things that matter to local people led to all of these themes and all of these working groups.”
Our Future’s role is to facilitate and enable the town to plan how it will use the money as effectively as possible. 75 per cent of the £20m, £15m, is devoted to capital spend, meaning investment projects, while 25 per cent will be revenue spend. Ms Bolton stated this split means the scheme will have to be thoughtful about investment that can create a long-lasting impact.
One Grimbarian, Ian Blakemore, has lived in Hull for 15 years, but made the trip across the Humber to find out more about Grimsby Together. “This is my hometown and I want to see it get better over the next decade. This funding can really help people and the different groups around the area.
“I’ve no doubt that the future is a positive one for this town and with projects like this utilising the community we have, it can become a reality.”
Attendees were invited to submit both ideas for Grimsby’s future and to celebrate existing projects in the community. A Co-Operative owned by the town and developing young entrepreneurs were just a couple of the ideas submitted.
Nunny’s Farm, Grimsby Community Energy and Grimsby in Bloom are among the existing organisations and schemes highlighted already on the Grimsby Together website. For more information on the project, visit here