To think the Northern towns deserve "levelling up"

[EricBartholomew]

It's been a good news day in that the levelling up fund has now been distributed and announced. Today on the radio I've heard much disappointment from those who weren't afforded funding (in Leeds and certain areas in Liverpool, other cities).

AIBU to be pleased that the biggest lump of cash is going to somewhere like Morecambe and not a city or a town of the fringes of a city? They already benefit from the wealth there and the investment that comes with it.

There has been a feeling of being "left to rot" in some of these towns for so long that we have nothing but our communities pulling together. I'm so pleased that there is hope (and funding) today for the beautiful Morecambe Bay and other towns that have got levelling up funding. It's well deserved.

If they spend millions (I don't know how much they are spending) on Catterick it will benefit the surrounding areas, work opportunities, supplying materials etc so more money in the wider community. Isn't that how it works?

@Cuppasoupmonster A great example of what I was saying- far easier and quicker and cheaper to get from Manchester to London!

Looks like locally we’re getting £65million. Some of it is ear marked for two new bridges to help ease congestion and some for a windmill.

cant say I think it sounds like money well spent but maybe I’m wrong

Of course it is, I think many Northerners seem to forget the SW is a fucking huge peninsula that juts out into the sea - going from one end to the other takes over 4 hours motorway driving. Penzance is equidistance to London as Harrogate 😂 yet it has the London commuter advantage apparently 🤔

I grew up in Blackpool - I left 25 years ago to go to uni in Manchester. Levelling up is just tokenism- the way it is being done at the moment. Like previous posters have said, these kind of towns need proper infrastructure, better connections, better opportunities (I.e. jobs); to instill young people to aspire. I go back to Blackpool and see the prom is so very different to what it looked like when I grew up, but then you go 2 streets behind and it’s much worse than when I lived there. I also don’t think it’s north vs south, of course there’s deprivation everywhere. I just wish that that money would be spent on things that would make a difference to ordinary people.

MasterBeth
It's corrupt and it stinks

Apparently not - 12 January 2022

Levelling up fund legal case to be ditched

A judicial review against the government over the controversial allocation of the £4.8bn Levelling-Up fund has been withdrawn by lawyers.

The High Court had granted permission for the Good Law Project – a non-profit legal company – to challenge the allocation of the government’s Levelling Up fund through a judicial review back in August 2021.

The Good Law Project argued at the time that the fund was being used by the government as a way of funneling money into constituencies which would benefit the Conservative party politically.

As the case was taking shape, the documents provided by the government to the Good Law Project told “a different story.”

Legal advice received by the Good Law Project has suggested that in light of the documents provided by the government, the case has a low prospect of being successful.

www.lgcplus.com/finance/levelling-up-fund-legal-case-to-be-ditched-12-01-2022/

"Of course it is, I think many Northerners seem to forget the SW is a fucking huge peninsula that juts out into the sea - going from one end to the other takes over 4 hours motorway driving. Penzance is equidistance to London as Harrogate 😂 yet it has the London commuter advantage apparently"

And many of us are well aware. This was never meant to be a north/south post. It was a cities/towns post based on a radio show I listened to yesterday.

Anyway, stick a bid in because funding will be withdrawn now. Richie has been sent back down to that there London with his tail between his legs 🙈🤣

Nobody has said anything about the south west not deserving anything.

Although service life does bring its own circumstance, there is no economic deprivation. The garrison has very high employment (of course) as nearly all of the community are soldiers.
No economic disadvantage. Not pretty, but plenty of facilities, library, leisure centre, health centres, expanded schools, a new school. Major supermarkets, a cinema. Some empty shops, but where hasn’t?

The really deprived village on the edge of the garrison doesn’t appear to be benefitting. ( IDACI for shows the school in the highest 10% of the country for deprivation)

Rishi land and publicity! ( of course). Makes for good news, looking after our servicemen.

I wonder if this is also just ‘diverted’ money. The MOD already invests in infrastructure and support for service families and facilities. Is the money Rishi is giving, really only the same money that the MOD contributes to the locality.

It all stinks of vanity project!

Well the title is about northern towns deserving it, lots of talk of north v south and the south west is in the south and has significant areas of deprivation and low funding for things like NHS and education.

The north might miss out compared to the south east but at least that is recognised, the south west doesn't even get a mention.

Exactly this. And the Midlands, come to think of it. All we ever hear about is how rich ‘the south’ is and the poor hard done by North, when literally half of the south is worse off than the north is!

"Well the title is about northern towns deserving it"

Over the Northern cities. But many have conveniently ignored that fact so they can bang on about Cornwall 🤣

From East Dorset it easily takes 4 hours to get to the far side of Cornwall. East Dorset is about a further 2 hours away from London. Excellent commute.

You said ‘northern towns deserve the money’. I’m pointing out other places do as well. Maybe I should start my own thread!

Nope. That's not what I said. It's all there in the OP. Maybe you could start your own thread about Cornwall

I agree. Start your own threads about Cornwall instead of complaining about people talking about issues in the North.

I don’t even live in Cornwall, I just happen to have a slightly wider knowledge of the country other than just north = poor and south = rich and greedy 😂

Well I was talking about Devon, don't bother telling me what to do. I'm well aware you aren't my boss.

Cornwall, Devon, South West, wherever. Just start your own thread instead of being upset no one is talking about these places.

"Well I was talking about Devon, don't bother telling me what to do. I'm well aware you aren't my boss."

Whoa @ancientgran 🤣 it was cuppa that said maybe they should make another thread. And she should. This one got nowt to do with Devon and Cornwall

It's quite clear in the title that is about northern towns deserving the money and some of us are pointing out that there are other areas that deserve it just as much or more. I reckon Plymouth needs it more than Catterick for example. Stonehouse in Plymouth are in the bottom .2% of areas in the country so I think they deserve some help and have done for a long time.

So if someone wants to do a thread about who deserves help it is absolutely reasonable to discuss places that might deserve it more.

This is MN op so anything the Tories do is automatically called bad. Even if they put 100 million trillion into the NHS someone would complain.
I assume an Eden type venture would bring in more visitors, who would bring money into shops, restaurants hotels etc plus jobs for people in the actual project.
However as this is MN I expect everyone to say it’s doomed.

As a resident of one of the big northern cities you mention I can assure you that the investment and money generated in the city does not trickle down into our deprived areas. Our labour council is corrupt and incompetent. Money "disappears" into the coffers of family connected businesses that mysteriously go bump. There is little to no accountability.

The whole levelling up thing is a scam. It's pissing into the wind in terms of what's needed to undo the years of local funding cuts. We had a period at the start of the first labour govt where money was pumped into the deprived areas and did actually make a difference in terms of outcomes for locals. As soon as the austerity movement started and council funding was cut and withdrawn from those schemes they closed, buildings were left to rot and be destroyed and the areas were left sinking again. Wealth rarely trickles down- same for investment.

A lot of what the Tories do is either misguided or woefully inadequate. That’s why the country is failing.

What are you trying to achieve here ancientgran?