NIGHTCLUBS — Nightclubs in Barrow Town Centre which have been closed for many years // Pictured: Club M on Cornwallis Street Friday 11th August 2017 LINDSEY DICKINGS.
CONCERNS have been raised that areas not included in a council bid for £52m in government funding could be left neglected.
Barrow Council has signed off on a bid to transform the high street and town centre under the ‘Brilliant Barrow’ banner.
The local authority has applied for the £30m Towns Fund and £22m Future High Streets Fund in a ‘landmark moment’ for the town.
But questions have been asked over areas not included in the bid, such as the town of Dalton and other streets in Barrow town centre.
Addressing a meeting of Barrow Council, Dalton North Councillor Ben Shirley said: “As we know high streets are changing.
“If this bid comes off Barrow is going to become a real destination.
“I just wondered if the chief executive, or chair of the executive committee, might wish to comment on the council’s appetite to continue to work together with government and the private sector to upgrade areas of the town centre such as Market Street and Cornwallis Street for example which, with all due respect, do need updating?
“And also will they remember the rural areas such as the one that I represent in Dalton North to ensure that the benefits of this fund are felt right across the borough?”
In response to Cllr Shirley’s question, Cllr Derek Brook, the council’s executive committee chairman, reassured him that other areas would not be forgotten.
He pointed out the council had applied for £3m in funding for Dalton under the Government’s Borderlands Fund.
“Is this the end of it? No,” Cllr Brook said.
“We certainly aren’t going to stop.
“We want to build up all of that area at the back of the town hall.
“We can’t include Dalton in some of these bids because the criteria from the Government is quite specific.
“As you know we have got Dalton in the Borderlands bid.
“The borough is the borough, so we are trying to do what we can for the whole borough.”
Under the Brilliant Barrow initiative a number of project to improve have been proposed.
Source: https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/18624580.call-not-neglect-dalton-barrow-bids-52m-funding/