Margate is one of 100 towns across the country that will receive investment of up to £25 million from the government’s Town Deals Fund.
In an announcement today (September 6) by Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP it was revealed Margate is one of the towns is now invited to develop proposals for regeneration plans.
The £3.6 billion Towns Fund is to boost places that have proud industrial and economic heritage but have not always benefitted from economic growth in the same way as more prosperous areas.
Communities, businesses and local leaders will now join forces to draw up ambitious plans to transform economic growth prospects with a focus on improved transport, broadband connectivity, skills and culture.
Local Government Secretary, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, said: “Ensuring that prosperity and opportunities are available to everyone in this country, not just those in London or our biggest cities, is at the heart of the mission of this government.
“We want to level-up our great towns, raising living standards and ensuring they can thrive with transformative investment in transport, technology, skills and culture.
“I will now work with local people from the 100 communities announced today to agree proposals to invest up to £25 million in each place. I hope these deals will provide the investment and the impetus for long-term renewal ensuring each town can look to the future with a new optimism.”
The government is due to publish a prospectus to guide towns through the process and set eligibility criteria for funding.
Once approved, new Town Deals will improve connectivity, provide social and cultural infrastructure and boost growth – with communities having a say on how the money is spent. Decisions on funding any proposals will be made in due course.
Can I suggest you invest in street cleaning machines that will clean everywhere not just Margate harbour, this will enhance the whole look of thanet,oh and weed killer this area is a disgrace
Agreed. We used to have a machine clean my road on a 2 weekly basis in the winter due to the amount of leaves that came off of the tree’s surrounding the local school and once a month during the summer. my road alone has 40 trees. (this is without the other 3 sides of the school grounds) My road has 8 detached properties and is no more than 200 yards long. We have not have a machine or street cleaner in 2 years. Perhaps this is why one property at a junction gets flooded after a heavy down pour and the 4 soak-aways get filled up.
May
Oh I thought thanet was only a few hundred around the Turner centre……is thanet bigger than that?!!
Why don’t they do something with the boarded up shop’s near Arlington house. Are they getting back handers from the company that owns them.Are they waiting for permission to build houses on the site? The council could make them do something with them as it has been years since they were occupied. If it was in Clifton ville the council would make them tidy them up or compulsory buy them up
I suject in a proper shopping mail built in margate. Clean the place up i c Toilets that you place to use likrme in london . A shopping mail will rwalt boot margate. Its always left behide.
Don’t you have a spellcheck on your computer? Either that or take more water with it!
This is good news but I worry about who is going to make the decisions about how to spend it. Time for the people of Margate to rise up and make their views known.
We need The Council To Clean Public Toilets and Clean the Streets.
We need more Housing Association property for people on low wages.
Lower The Rates On all Shops in Margate and encourage shops back to The High Street.
Brilliant news …once again hopefully local community groups local businesses will have a say in where the money needs to be spent on improving the area and decision making not solely made by Thanet District Council. This needs to be closely monitored as to where the money is spent by an outside person qualified to do the job and is impartial and not by someone ie new vacancy advertised through local council.
Laura good question, bet it won’t be me
I wouldnt put money into margate if TDC had any say, who knows what pocket the money will end up in….. we need real jobs for real people , not the arty set or summer jobs like dreamland, real jobs for the people of thanet. But it wont happen we will probably get another art centre and another old fashion ride for dreamland !!
Is there any chance of some of the money to give our vistors some toilets and parking after all we tell them how great our beaches are???
Cleanliness of Margate should be a priority I am now nearly 70and have lived in Thanet all my life and have never seen the place looking so dirty and run down , mainly due to countless years of neglect by councils of all parties, let’s hope at last all concerned get their act together and do something positive for a change.
I’m no longer a resident of Kent but margate doesn’t need it. Cliftonville could do with a large cash injection more. That place went from thriving Town to desolate slum with a few shops dotted about in a very short period of time
Up to £25 million sounds like a lot but it is a drop in the ocean compared to the loss of Government Rate Support Grants that have been lost/ cut back over the last ten years. If Thanet was just given the money it would have got under a sensible Scheme , we would not need to beg the Government for little “extras”, we would get it by right.
So many of our residents have noted the decline in street-cleaning, public toilets, Housing Association or Council housing provision, Youth Clubs, Libraries etc. This is not due to recent TDC councillors (though they are pretty awful) but due to “Austerity”, cuts in public spending that have real consequences that we can see and feel. For too long, the Tories have grumbled about “red-tape” or local Council inefficiency, but, in the end, even local Tories set out to do a good job but then find that, year after year, the Government grant gets less and less so they end up reducing the services we rely on.
The economy will shrink after Brexit so tax revenues will also reduce. I bet the Tory government won’t admit why Thanet’s services are deteriorating even more. They will probably blame “red-tape” and local Council “inefficiency”. It’s always your own fault with this lot.
If money is allocated, please can the tenders be put forward to local companies for what ever improvement is put forward. Please can the tenders be scrutinised with no local authority or town council family or employee being invited to tender. Please can we not have the local authority holding the purse strings. If they have to, can their services be scrutinised by independent local auditors, with the rates being charged at employee rates of pay per hour and not management rates of pay.
I am sure that thanet Council will sqander 99% of the money for themselves for their salarie pensions and luxury holidays for their families. Margate won’t see the cash.
If the top of the high street and the empty shops near Peacocks had some unique selling point,like The Lanes in Brighton,with lower business rates, shops and cafes would open creating jobs for local people and it would give the thousands of tourists who are now coming, somewhere else to spend their money. Clean streets is a basic necessity. This has to be spent on something that will have an impact on businesses, which in turn will create more money and opportunities for the area.
Mary p how could you be so synicle!!!? But I understand your thinking.
1. Street cleaning and management of offenders (plus some sort of keep Margate clean campaign as a proactive move)
2. A safe place for addicts to take their drugs and not throw needles all over the place
3. Address the homeless issue
Not sure 25mill will cover it, but it’s a start
Margate is still a great place to live despite the above!
How about sprucing up the winter gardens Needs a good lick of paint
The whole of Thanet needs this cash injection but not in the hands of TDC!