£60m regeneration cash for Northants' poorest neighbourhoods
The Labour government has today announced three ‘left behind’ areas in Northants will receive a whopping £20m over the next decade, but no funding for Northampton’s poorest parts
By Sarah Ward
North Northamptonshire’s poorest areas are to receive a huge £60m government over the next decade.
Corby’s Kingswood, Hazel Leys and Exeter areas; Avondale in Kettering and Queensway in Wellingborough will each receive government regeneration cash through the Pride in Place programme, with local people the ones to decide what the cash will be spent on. £2m will be passported into the area each year, with a board of local residents ruling on what is needed and why.
The communities will be given community right to buy and compulsory purchase powers, in order to take ownership of derelict buildings and local spaces and also be given authority to block unwanted shops, such as vape stores and betting shops.
The three areas have parts that are among the most deprived in the country and were named by the previous Conservative government four years ago as among 225 ‘left behind communities’. But Kings Heath and Talavera in Northampton, which were also named, have not been singled out for this new cash investment.
The funding has been hailed as a ‘victory’ by the area’s three Labour MPs with Corby’s Lee Barron declaring that ‘gone are the days when people sit in private boardrooms deciding where money should be spent.’
Levelling up
Northants five left behind neighbourhoods were the focus of a year-long project by NN Journal in 2021 in which we visited the neighbourhoods and reported what residents had to say. Identified in 2021 by a cross party of MPs as being among the most deprived in the country due to a lack of infrastructure and multiple deprivation markers, when we visited we heard about the significant long running issues in the areas, with residents pointing to a lack of services, rising violent crime and a lack of opportunities.
Play parks were run down and vandalised, housing was in a poor state of repair and community centres had closed their doors.
But despite pledges of a focus on the areas by those in power, as part of the former Levelling Up initiative, nothing concrete materialised under the previous Conservative government and Tory-run councils.
In North Northamptonshire the local authority established a levelling up scrutiny commission, after a campaign by Labour councillor Zoe McGhee following the death of teenager Rayon Pennycook. Months later Wellingborough teenager Dylan Holliday was also murdered in Queensway.
The commission found that there were systemic, long term issues within the areas and identified shortfalls, but there was no cash to go with it.
All five of the ‘left behind communities’ areas also missed out on levelling up cash in 2022, with the councils instead deciding to funnel the money to established venues such as Chester Farm in Irchester and Delapre Abbey in Northampton.
In 2024 we spoke to community leaders after a council boss said it would take a generation to make significant changes in the areas. They said the focus has brought scrutiny on to the area and the local authority’s involvement, but that cash was needed.
Following today’s announcement, the three MPs have all released statements.
Corby MP Lee Barron said he had campaigned for the investment. He said:
“Corby people know their area better than anyone else and that is why the government has decided to do this differently. This is our chance to improve our area by making the big decisions ourselves - not by letting other people make decisions for us. It is a pot of money intended to make their communities an even better place to live.”
Gen Kitchen, MP for Wellingborough & Rushden, said:
“I’ve been fighting hard for investment in the constituency, so I’m thrilled that this hard work has paid off. Places like Queensway were neglected by the last government, now Labour is delivering for local people.”
Rosie Wrighting, MP for Kettering said:
“This is a major victory for our area. I fought to secure this funding, but the decisions about how it is used must come from the people who live here. I will keep standing up for Avondale Grange so every penny delivers for our community.”
It is understood the money will be sent to the local councils and the MP’s offices will administer initial public consultations. As it is a community led initiative the community board meetings are expected to be held in public.
Resident Nicola Wilson, who lives with her five children on the Kingswood estate in Corby, says she would like to see money to go towards more facilities for youngsters.
She said:
“This money could change a lot of people’s lives. But I’ll believe it when I see it.”
The money comes after a loss of political clout in the three areas. Kingswood had always been an area that voted Labour, but Reform took control in the May elections, as it did in the Avondale and Queensway wards.
The Government may be hoping that this regeneration cash can help it win back its core voting base ahead of the next general election.
Secretary of state for communities and Local Government, Steve Reed said:
“When people step out of their front doors, they know their communities are struggling. They see shuttered pubs, fading high streets and their local areas in decline.
“Yes, communities have been stretched – but they haven’t given up. They’re working hard to make things better, and we’re backing them.
“The Government is putting power into their hands so local people decide how best to restore pride in their neighbourhoods, not us in Westminster.
“That’s what real patriotism looks like: building up our communities and choosing renewal over division.”
Read again
All of the stories are available in our archive at nnjournal.co.uk
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