Continued investment in town centre is welcomed

West Norfolk Council has welcomed news that the Chancellor’s Budget will see funding to regenerate Lynn’s town centre continue to flow.Rachel Reeves’ announcement on Wednesday has generated a mixed reaction around the borough, with our two MPs voicing drastically different views and various businesses expressing concern.However, Alistair Beales, leader of the borough council, is looking forward to hearing more from the Government about its ongoing investment in improving the attractiveness of town centres.

He said: “We welcome this great news that the Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed into a new regeneration programme, through which the new Government will invest over ten years in King’s Lynn and the other places previously selected to receive funding under the previous programme.“We look forward to hearing more from the Government about timescales and next steps, so we can move ahead with investing further in King’s Lynn, informed by the significant local public consultation undertaken during the summer and the national priorities for their reformed regeneration programme.”Vicky Etheridge, the interim chair of the Lynn Town Board, added: “I am so pleased that King’s Lynn remains in line for further much-needed national investment.

“During the summer, we ran a major consultation with people who live, work, visit, run a business, and study in King’s Lynn to get a picture of people’s latest aspirations for the town. “The valuable feedback has been used to update our investment priorities, in readiness for exciting funding announcements such as this.“Lots of great work is under way to shape the future of King’s Lynn and I can’t wait to get started on another exciting chapter in that story.” Following the consultation, the emerging themes for investment are to:

• Improve town centre attractiveness and cultural experience• Create a successful, modern, mixed-use town centre• Enhance connectivity and accessibility • Improve safety, security and community wellbeing• Raise young people’s aspirations and support business and skills growth