West Lindsey District Council

West Lindsey District Council has submitted its Investment Plan to the Government, which sets out how it will spend its allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

A total of £2.7 million has been set aside for the Council but in order to access the fund, along with other Council’s nationally, it has to identify activities that will be right for the district and get Government approval.

Twelve interventions have been selected by the Council, which will focus on three key areas, linked to the Corporate Plan.

1. Communities and Place
2. Supporting Local Businesses
3. People and Skills

Cllr Owen Bierley, Leader of West Lindsey District Council said: “This funding will help us to address many challenges and opportunities in our local communities. Our investment Plan is about connecting people, building pride in our communities and place, supporting businesses and boosting the skills and life chances of individuals throughout our district.

“All our interventions are based on evidence of need and have been prepared following stakeholder engagement. We strongly believe our investment plan will have the greatest impact in our district and we cannot wait to get started on these exciting initiatives.”

The Shared Prosperity Fund is the UK Government’s replacement for the EU funding following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Interventions highlighted by the Council, include creating a flagship community grants programme that will create new and improved community facilities and boost engagement with the community. This will help to tackle social isolation and loneliness as more than 12% of adults in West Lindsey said they felt lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’, (national average 7.2%).

A multi-events signature programme is also proposed along with improvements to walking and cycling paths across the district to improve the leisure and health and well-being opportunities.

The majority of businesses in West Lindsey are micro businesses (90%) and there is relatively low level of new job postings. The vibrancy of the district’s economy has been ranked to 263 out of 324 and due to the impacts of Covid, our visitor economy has shrunk.

Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities, Sally Grindrod-Smith said: “If we want to create a strong, stable, diverse and self-sustainable business environment then we need to support our local businesses.

“Our Investment Plan looks at developing a flagship West Lindsey Business Support Programme to tailor advice and guidance to local village and retails centers. Along with a new grant scheme for business led sustainability improvements to increase employment opportunities.

“West Lindsey does have ambitious plans to support inclusive growth and regeneration of our communities and in order to maximise the impact of this fund we aim to develop the best in class approach.”

The fund will also look to support and expand the delivery of the West Lindsey markets action plan. It focusses on increasing the number of people visiting and spending money creating more sustainable local markets and businesses.

Educational attainment rates are an area of relative weakness in West Lindsey. A number of interventions are proposed by the Council, to create a happy, healthy, productive workforce that is trained and employed in the area.

This includes working with the voluntary and community sector to address barriers for work particularly in the Labour markets and improve skills based on the specific needs of local employers.

As well as developing local plans for investment, the West Lindsey UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan also highlights wider challenges for our area including access to health care, public transport provision and the availability of further education opportunities. The Council will be looking to partners and the government to discuss and make plans to address these wider issues in order to realise the potential to truly ‘level up’ our area.

The government is expected to make the first payments to Councils in October 2022 after reviewing the plans.

For more details on the fund visit the Government’s website – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus

Plans to repair, restore and regenerate the buildings in the historic market town of Gainsborough are underway – thanks to West Lindsey District Council’s Townscape Heritage scheme.

The scheme aims to reverse the decline of our much-loved town by offering substantial grants towards the costs to renovate the buildings, bringing empty properties back into use and maximising the potential for them to be used today. It is backed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Levelling up Programme to help create a Thriving Gainsborough.

The first property which has been awarded grant funding from the Townscape Heritage Scheme is 27 – 29 Lord Street. The property is currently empty. It had solely residential use up to 1910, when shop fronts were installed on the ground floor. The property has stood witness to many changes in Gainsborough’s economic fortunes.

Thanks to the combined grant funding, the frontage of the building will benefit from a range of interventions to reinstate the historical features. This includes: structural repairs, overhauling brickwork and pointing, repairs to wooden sash windows, reinstatement of the two shopfronts and much more.

The property owner, Andy Hurley, has already invested in the town at 25 Lord Street, which he has successfully transformed. After receiving planning permission to convert the property, it now houses three fantastic independent local businesses all of which draw unique new visitors into the town.

Mr Hurley purchased the block of properties prior to Covid. He said: “Our intention is to renovate the derelict properties and give them a new purpose so that they could contribute to the area.

“With the help now available from the National Lottery’s THI funding and the Levelling-Up funding, it means we are able to accelerate the work at the neighbouring property, 27 – 29 Lord Street, and also complete it to an excellent standard. This will improve the street scene and in turn help neighbouring businesses, as the properties have been derelict for many years and have a negative impact on the town centre.”

Mr Hurley has urged other property owners to look into the scheme as help is available to transform selected properties across Gainsborough Town Centre. He added: “The process is easy and I would encourage others to take up this fantastic opportunity, it really will make a difference to Gainsborough.”

The substantial investment in historic buildings and associated community engagement activities seeks to improve the historic value and appearance of properties within targeted parts of the Town Centre Conservation Area of Gainsborough.

Chair of the Leisure, Culture, Events & Tourism Group at the Council, Cllr Paul Howitt-Cowan, welcomed the news of the first grant allocations.

He said: “Restoring the Historic Heart of Gainsborough is part of the Council’s wider Invest Gainsborough vision to increase footfall to the area, build a sense of place and restore buildings back to their attractive historic look. It also encourages local communities to find out more about the town’s heritage. I am delighted to see the plans for the THI are progressing and I cannot wait to see the finished buildings once they are complete.”

Jonathan Lee, experienced Townscape Heritage Officer at the Council is leading on the project. He is calling on all property owners in the designated area to come forward and find out more about the scheme.

He said: “The Townscape Heritage Team is thrilled that the scheme is off to a great start. We hope that this news will encourage other property owners in the town centre to come forward and join in with the initiative to help our ‘Thriving Gainsborough 2024’.

“The building at 27 – 29 Lord Street is full of character. It was used as the residence of the ‘collector of market tolls’ in 1861 and 1871. Therefore, we really look forward to restoring it to its former glory, including the residential function.”

This scheme is part of a wider ‘Thriving Gainsborough 2024’ project taking place in the town. It follows the recent announcement that the Council has purchased the land of the Former Coop building to build a new cinema, retail units and a restaurant in the Market Place.

Other regeneration projects include:

• redesigning the use and streetscape of the Market Place.
• create a green public realm – including a new Pocket Park along the riverside and improvements to the existing park.
• implementation of wayfinding strategy to direct residents, businesses and visitors around the town.
• refurbishment of the bus station.
• extending the live above the shop programme to utilise the upper floors of buildings.