East Thanet MP Polly Billington says she welcomes news that Ramsgate is set to receive up to £20 million of funding as part of the Labour government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods.
Now Ramsgate will receive a share of £1.5 billion of funding being invested into towns to create growth and opportunities with grants released from this April and delivery investment beginning in 2026.
Seventy-five towns, including Ramsgate, will receive the funding and specialist support aimed at breathing new life into struggling high streets and boosting local economies.
Currently, Ramsgate has some 65 empty shops- a vacancy rate of 24% which is far above the 14% national average- spanning from King Street up to, and including, Addington Street as well as the High Street, Harbour Street, York Street and Chatham Street.
Premises formerly occupied by national businesses such as Wilko, Argos, New Look and Subway sit empty alongside those once housing smaller independents such as Zest. It’s an issue local group Ramsgate Space is hoping to tackle through methods such as High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) powers.
As part of the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a Neighbourhood Board will be set up in Ramsgate, bringing together residents, businesses and community campaigners. The board will decide how to spend the funding, choosing from options that include rejuvenating high streets, parks, youth clubs, cultural venues, health services, repairs to pavements and high streets and setting up community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials.
Polly Billington said: “Building a stronger economy and raising living standards in Thanet is my highest priority as an MP, which is why it’s so important that the Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed up to £20m for the regeneration of Ramsgate, and announced Labour’s plans to put local residents in the driving seat of how the money is spent.
“From my work supporting the Ramsgate Empty Shops Campaign, I know just how much potential there is in Ramsgate and how passionate local people are about delivering a town centre our community can be proud of.
“This new funding is such a shot in the arm for all their hard work, and I am looking forward to working closely with Thanet District Council and Ramsgate residents to shape these exciting plans.”
The money through Labour’s new plan will be spent on a broadened set of interventions and has different objectives to the previous long-term plan for towns programme.
Neighbourhood Boards can spend funding on schemes including modernisation of social housing, community led housing, skills support and housing, cohesion and child care.
The government has also expanded the list of who can sit on the boards to include representatives from social housing and workplace representatives.
This is promising. Looking forward to seeing how the plans to spend the money pan out.
Any plans should surely already be in place…..or am I being naive?
that wont last long , a few meetings , consultants fees , fact finding trips abroad ,and that will soon be frittered away .
She won’t be as pleased when she realises Thanet Council’s track record in spending grant money. Or not spending it.
Which Thanet Council. historically?
Strange how she saw that e-mail, but cannot find all the complaints about everything else-including the defecating tent people in Cliftonville.
She’s been an absolute disgrace but what do you expect once they are in Parliament they then all feed from the same trough.
The most thriving towns locally are those that still have their high streets open to traffic. Broadstairs and Whitstable are examples. A one way system involving Effingham Street is surely possible
Susan, one of the reasons I moved from Broadstairs nearly 14 years ago was because its pedestrianised! Broadstairs is a nightmare, what with tourists, and more importantly foreign students blocking the pavements! I got fed up having to dodge the traffic, and mob handed students/ tourists, Ramsgate is much more user friendly. I just hope a decent W.H. Smith type shop would open, with some office goods, and a decent shoe shop, my shoes have just about had it, and I stopped buying Online long ago!
How about a nice pair of Church’s from their “Off Town” collection. Obviously, we haven’t met (‘Dumpton’ is not somewhere I’ve been), but I do have a feeling that Norfolks with the Polished Fume Monkstrap would suit you.
Here we go again 🙄 more money for Ramsgate, how about getting money for Margate, Margate never get anything, Margate needs a big make over, stop throwing cash at Ramsgate and Broadstairs, Margate is screaming 😱 for a make over.
I’m assuming you were not originally from Margate or indeed Thanet as if you were you would know that what you have written is complete nonsense. Margate has always been prioritised, to the detriment of the other Thanet towns.
It is about time that the other towns, especially Ramsgate, was given priority over Margate and properly invested to help rejuvenate them.
COULD AGREE MORE- I MEAN WHAT THE CINEMA ON THE SEAFRONT STILL CLOSED – UP. AND SOME OFF THE EMPTY SHOPS.
So it isn’t actually new money, just a reannouncement of money that was already committed.
Please don’t waste it on more fibreglass ravens. Look at the ways to address the core issue:
1. Look at ways to reduce the cost of rent in the core of the highstreet.
2. Incentivise business to move from the edges of the highstreet in to the centre. Then convert the properties they vacate in to housing. Much better to have a smaller active high street than one a hollowed out core.
3. Provide free car parking for 2 hours to encourage people to visit.
THEN AGAIN ITS THIS COUNCIL WITH COST OFF HIGH RATES WESTWOOD CROSS WHICH KILLED THE TOWNS. UTTER SHAME ON THIS GREEDY SELFISH COUNCIL.