Fantastic response to the My Town Nuneaton consultation

A major consultation to help Nuneaton win a share of millions of pounds worth of Government funding has been inundated with responses.

The town is one of 100 across the country that has been selected to bid for funding from the Government’s Towns Fund initiative.

There is up to £25 million available for each town to help with projects that will deliver transformation across England as part of the Government’s commitment to ‘level up’ all regions across the country.  

In order to compete for the funding, a bid needs to be created which will include a list of projects and residents were asked to share their views in the first wave of consultation.

More than 250 ideas have been submitted to the campaign and now they are being assessed before shortlisting.

Ideas included suggested improvements to the road system, cycling and pedestrian routes around Nuneaton, improvements to the park and increasing other leisure activities, increasing opportunities for training and apprenticeships and improvements to the digital network.

A Town Deal Board – made up of business representatives, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Councillors, Warwickshire County Councillors and representatives from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Warwickshire CAVA, the health sector and community – has been created to bring a funding bid together.

Cllr Peter Butlin, Deputy Leader at Warwickshire County Council, sits on the Town Deal Board and represents the county council.

He said: “The response to the first call-out has been fantastic and proves there is a real enthusiasm among residents to improve the town in Nuneaton.

“Coupled with the Transforming Nuneaton project, there is a lot happening in Nuneaton which will make an enormous difference to its residents and the businesses in the town. We want local people to play their part in the exciting future of their town and I urge people to keep sending their ideas through.It is really helping us to get a picture of what people want and what we should be striving to deliver.”

Sean Farnell, Chair of the Nuneaton Town Deal Board, is thrilled with how many people got involved with the first part of the consultation.

“Firstly, the board would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that got involved with the first stage of the consultation,” he said.

“There have been some very interesting and thought-provoking responses and we are looking forward to discussing them in more detail and finding out all about the projects.

“Once we have formed a shortlist of the projects, we will reveal them and put them out to consultation again for members of the public to share their views on them.

“This is a chance to shape the future of Nuneaton, so please keep supporting this and help us create the best bid possible to submit to the Government.”

Projects need to relate to six key areas – local transport, digital connectivity, urban regeneration, arts, culture and heritage, skills, and enterprise – to qualify for the funding.

Shortlisted projects will be revealed in a second round of consultation and then a plan of action, called a Town Investment Plan, will be drawn up to submit for the Government funding later in the year.

For further information about the campaign and to submit an idea visit www.mytownnuneaton.co.uk

To keep up to date with the initiative follow @MyTown _Nuneaton on Twitter and My Town Nuneaton at Facebook.

Caption: Nuneaton town centre