Rochdale council leader Neil Emmott has dismissed the government’s ‘Levelling Up’ announcement as a ‘jumble of reheated policies’.
This week saw the release of a long-awaited ‘ white paper ’ setting out proposals to narrow regional inequalities and bring prosperity to ‘left behind’ areas in the north and midlands.
Unveiled by secretary of state Michael Gove, it includes 12 mission statements, taking in everything from employment, transport and education, to gigabit broadband, health and life expectancy.
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The document mentions Rochdale no fewer than 11 times, linking it monies from the Future High Streets Fund, Towns Fund and ‘Strength in Places’.
But much of this money has already been allocated and often spent on projects that are already completed or well in train.
One example being a reference to the ‘redevelopment of the fire service museum’ - which reopened as ‘Fireground’ last month.
Only the inclusion of Rochdale among the new ‘Education Investment Areas’ appears to suggest new money or plans for the borough.
And it has left Labour's Coun Emmott, who became leader last summer, distinctly unimpressed.
“We need to move mountains to level-up this country, not kick a few pebbles around as the government appears to be doing after more than a decade of hammering the country’s poorest areas with unprecedented cuts to local funding,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“The new levelling up white paper looks for the most part like an uninspiring jumble of previously announced initiatives and reheated policies that will not address the gulf in investment and opportunity that exists between the north and south of this country – a gap that is now, very shamefully, wider than that between East and West Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“If the government is really serious about closing that gap it needs to bring forward more ambitious ideas, serious levels of funding and more autonomy for the north.”
The Education Investment Areas policy promises to ‘drive further school improvement…through funding to intervene in underperforming schools, supporting growth of strong trusts, and retaining’.
How much money will be available and how this will be divided up among the 55 places earmarked for the scheme, is not clear however.
But, while the announcement may have left the Rochdale council boss rather underwhelmed, the borough has been awarded some sizeable grants over recent years.
These include the following:
Towns Fund £23.6m
Awarded last March, this covers seven different projects, with the biggest being the development of an Advanced Machinery and Productivity Institute (AMPI) at Kingsway Business Park.
A major coup for the borough, it is expected to generate around 660 direct new jobs and 530 indirect jobs across the region.
Other projects include 700 new homes in Lower Falinge, major improvement to the A58 at St Mary’s Gate and new medium-sized units at Kingsway Business Park.
It is also ‘driving forward’ a proposal for more than 200 new homes at Central Retail Park. Dubbed ‘Neighbourhood Rochdale’, it is the first phase of the council's station gateway project, and includes a mix of apartments and community facilities.
Future High Streets Fund - £17m
This cash is being ploughed into ‘phase two’ of the town’s flagship Riverside development - which has already brought big names such as M&S, Next and Nandos to the town as well as a Reel Cinema.
The £50m scheme will see a new hotel and hundreds of ‘city living’ apartments built next to the Smith Street retail and leisure destination.
Strength in places - £50,000
Awarded in August 2020, this was early-stage ‘seed funding for the aforementioned AMPI.
The grant went to The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), in partnership with Rochdale Development Agency, Milnrow-based PTG Holroyd Precision, the University of Huddersfield and the University of Salford.
Brownfield Land Release Fund - £1.5m
Announced in October’s budget , this allows social housing provider Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to improve existing homes in Lower Falinge as well as bringing forward the development of new homes in the area.
It is also earmarked for additional improvements to green spaces and play facilities within the neighbourhood.
