Disappointment as Erdington funding bid unsuccessful

Disappointment as Erdington funding bid unsuccessful

Mark Cardwell - Local Democracy Reporter | Thursday 6th January 2022 10:42am

Erdington High Street faces further setbacks to a £56.4 million transformation it “desperately needs” after again missing out on Government funding.

Birmingham City Council had applied to the Government's Levelling Up fund for money to boost the area along with three other city schemes.

The winning bids across the country for the first round of the £4.8 billion fund were published yesterday (Oct 27) alongside Rishi Sunak's Budget announcement.

The bid has not necessarily failed permanently but the authority will now need to continue speaking to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a Treasury spokesperson said.

A decision will need to be made on whether to resubmit ahead of the next round. The date of the announcement for this is still to be confirmed.

The bid aimed to redevelop the Central Square Shopping Centre and create a new public square as well as transforming the former swimming baths in to a community hub.

There were also plans to upgrade footpaths and lighting to make it safer and more accessible.

The news comes after the scheme was unsuccessful in its bid to the Future High Street fund – which led to a dispute between parties about blame.

Conservative councillors for the Erdington ward have this time said the lack of match funding from the city council could have scuppered the bid.

A private sector source put £43.8 million towards the bid, with a total of £12.7 million required from the Levelling Up Fund. No match funding was proposed from the city council.

Leader of the Conservative group Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington) said: “This is a bitterly disappointing decision.

“When the council took the four bids for Birmingham through cabinet we warned that the council providing £15 million of match funding for the other three bids and nothing for Erdington would weaken the application and give the impression to civil servants that the council clearly considered the bid to be less important than the other four.

“Sadly that is exactly what seems to have happened.

“We are determined to secure the much-needed investment and regeneration Erdington High Street needs so are following on the latest announcement with both the Council and the Government.

“Gareth [Moore, fellow ward councillor] and I have always said we will keep fighting to secure investment for Erdington and that fight goes on”.”

Cllr Gareth Moore (Con, Erdington) said: “The council administration refusing to put match funding into the Erdington bid was always a kick in the teeth for the hard work of local partners like the Erdington BID, Witton Lodge Community Association, regeneration officers who worked on the bid, businesses, developers and community and church groups.

“So to now to see that the three bids the council did match fund were approved and that the council refusal to match fund Erdington has potentially cost Erdington is disgraceful.

“However a massive thank you to all the partners and officers involved who have been helping fight for Erdington.

“The Labour administration at Birmingham City Council needs to start backing Erdington.

“They refused to put match funding into the bid potentially fatally damaging it and then rub salt in the wound when they lobby Government but fail to include the Erdington bid in their submission.

“It is clear that a change in control in the council is needed for the council to start backing Erdington”.

A Labour spokesperson said none of the four bids were mentioned in the council’s letter to the Chancellor ahead of the budget.

Council leader Cllr Ian Ward (Lab, Shard End) said: “The Levelling-Up Fund bid for Erdington High Street was for £12.673 million, and this was backed up with match funding of £43.765 million from a private sector source.

“This private funding amounted to 80 per cent of the total cost of the preferred option, so this claim from the Conservatives is entirely false.

“The bid was supported by local residents, and we will continue to make the case to Government that Erdington deserves this vital Levelling Up funding.

“As part of our commitment to genuinely levelling up for the people and communities of Birmingham, we’re securing investment and funding to create jobs and opportunities and I’m delighted that we can now progress three of these four important projects.

“The remediation of the Wheels Site, ongoing restoration of Moseley Road Baths and A457 Dudley Road Improvements will make a big difference to some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country and we will work hard to ensure our communities reap the rewards.

“It is disappointing that the Government has chosen not to support the people of Erdington, but we will continue to push for funding and investment to ensure that all our communities can benefit from the levelling-up agenda.”

Jack Dromey MP, MP for Birmingham Erdington (Lab) was critical of the Government over the decision.

He said: “Once again, the Government has failed to provide the investment Erdington High Street so desperately needs.

“This decision flies in the face of their 'levelling up' rhetoric and badly lets down one of the poorest communities in the country.

“This investment would have provided an invaluable economic, social and cultural boost to our community, as well as providing employment opportunities for Erdington, which has an unemployment rate that stands at twice the national average.

“But this is not the first time Government has let Erdington down. Following the rejection of the Future High Streets Fund bid on Boxing Day, we continued to seek investment in our High Street.

“Working together with Birmingham City Council, key local stakeholders, and the local community, we submitted this comprehensive and ambitious bid to the Levelling Up Fund complete with a solid business case and significant private investment.

“This makes the decision to deny Erdington of investment once again outrageous and inexplicable.

“But we will not take no for an answer. I will seek urgent clarification from Michael Gove, the cabinet minister responsible, and do everything I can to ensure we finally win the funding necessary to give the people of Erdington the High Street they deserve.”

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