A £20M fund to remake Bolton town centre that had been left in the balance after the last election will now go ahead.
The money will be used for a range of projects including creating a new hotel and conference complex on Le Mans Crescent with a remodelled shopping centre and new green space.
Having been granted back in November 2023, the fund was left without having been signed off at the last election but has now been confirmed in this week’s budget.
Bolton North East MP Kirith Entwistle said: “I’ve been lobbying government ministers since the election to deliver on this funding because we need to keep investing in Bolton’s future.
“I’m delighted that, even in the face of difficult economic circumstances, the chancellor recognised how valuable this investment would be and chose to back Bolton.”
Ms Entwistle said that she and her colleagues Yasmin Qureshi MP, of Bolton South and Walkden, and Phil Brickell MP, of Bolton West, have all lobbed for the fund to be paid.
The fund was granted in November last year as part of the latest phase of the previous Conservative government’s “levelling up programme.”
It had previously been turned down for the previous phase of schemes around the country after an original bid sponsored by Labour’s Ms Entwistle’ s Conservative predecessor Mark Logan.
But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election of July this year before the money had been officially signed off.
In August council leader Cllr Nick Peel told town hall that the newly elected Labour government would still be following through on “stalled investment projects.”
He said that this would include levelling up bids like that of Bolton town centre that had not been paid yet.
On Wednesday this week chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that the £20M would be paid in full.
Bolton Council Conservative opposition leader Cllr Martyn Cox said: "It's certainly welcome news, I don't really know why there have been questions over this given it was signed off months ago.
"But I'm certainly not going to quibble with it."
Work around the town centre is already getting underway, with Primark’s move to the Market Place on November 27 meaning that the demolition of Crompton Place can move forward.
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Council deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Akhtar Zaman said: “We welcome the news that the chancellor will honour the previous government’s commitments to fund transformative regeneration projects across the borough.
“We will now work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to confirm the specific details for the town centre projects originally submitted as part of the second round of levelling up.
“This work will compliment developments which are already underway including Moor Lane, Deansgate Gardens and Church Wharf.
“A significant amount of work has already gone into developing a 10-year vision and three-year delivery plan, and the community has been engaging with the town’s board to identify the projects they would like to see.”
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