£25m bid to be submitted to regenerate towns
Barnsley Council Cabinet members will be asked to approve an ambitious bid to secure more than £25m investment for the future of Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe and Bolton upon Dearne at their meeting on Wednesday December 2.
In November 2019, the Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) launched the £3.6bn Towns Fund to drive long-term economic growth and productivity.
The Government selected 100 towns to be supported in designing and delivering a growth strategy known as a Town Investment Plan (TIP) for their area, and this includes Goldthorpe and the wider villages of Bolton on Dearne and Thurnscoe.
A Towns Fund Board for Goldthorpe was established consisting of councillors, members of the community and local business leaders, who have created a Town Investment Plan.
If approved by Barnsley Council’s Cabinet it will form the basis of a funding bid of more than £25m which will be submitted to Government next month.
The Goldthorpe Town Investment Plan aims to help achieve the Town Board and council’s vision and ambitions for Goldthorpe to become a growth catalyst for the Dearne Valley.
Councillor Tim Cheetham, cabinet spokesman for place (regeneration and culture) said: “The Towns Fund gives us a genuine ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to make such a huge and meaningful investment in the future of our communities in the Dearne Valley.
“We believe this ambitious plan will help give local people the best chance to thrive on a level playing field with better access to education and training, better access to more and better jobs on their doorstep, better connectivity to employment which might be further away, and an improved local high street and sense of place.
“We know the people of the Dearne Valley love their local area. We want to give them the best chance to thrive so that more of the current and future generations will choose to stay here, build their lives and raise their families without having to move away in search of work.”
Derek Bramham chairperson of the Town Board, said: “The Goldthorpe Town Board has incredibly high ambitions for Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe and Bolton upon Dearne as we do our best to make it a place more people want to live, work, shop and invest.
“Our Town Investment Plan for Goldthorpe, Bolton upon Dearne and Thurnscoe has been put together through working closely with the community and we hope it will have an enormous and positive impact on communities in the Dearne for years to come.”
The Town Board will be submitting its draft plan to the MHCLG on December 11.
