Communities to distribute £60m of targeted funding

People living in communities that have been allocated £60m of targeted funding for improvements will decide how to use the money, a council said.

Avondale Grange in Kettering, Kingswood and Hazel Leys in Corby, and Queensway in Wellingborough, have each been given £20m by the government as part of its Pride in Place programme, to strengthen communities and deliver improvements over the next decade.

North Northamptonshire Council said a neighbourhood board would be established in each area to make decisions about how to use the funding.

Martin Griffiths, the Reform UK council leader, said the areas had "faced long standing and deep-rooted challenges" and he wanted "meaningful change".

The chosen areas formed part of the 250 most in-need neighbourhoods across Britain, the council added.

Neighbourhood boards would be made up of residents, local businesses, community leaders, organisations and other public institutions, which together will develop a regeneration plan for the area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Each neighbourhood committee would have an independent chairperson and the council would be the accountable body for the programme and oversee the financial management of projects, but it would not lead on how the money should be spent.

Eddie McDonald, a Reform UK councillor and the authority's deputy leader, told a council meeting on Tuesday that the areas had been "failed" by previous town, county and governments.

"These areas did not simply slip into being a left behind area, it's taken decades to do so and the people believe they have been forgotten about, ignored and taken for granted," he said.

He added the funding would offer "a chance to build stronger communities" in the area.

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