Wigan Council commits to further Levelling Up Fund bids

The Leader of the Council, Coun David Molyneux, made the commitment at the latest meeting of the authority’s cabinet.

Meeting the day after it was revealed the council had been successful with its £20m bid for Haigh Hall, Coun Molyneux said he was “delighted” and “disappointed” in equal measure.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting on Thursday, he said: “Obviously, we are pleased with the fact we’ve got £20m for the Haigh Hall bid, but at the same time I would like to express my disappointment the two bids for Leigh and Ashton were unsuccessful.

“I’m led to believe that there will be a round three of the Levelling Up Fund and I would like to make that commitment today that we are certainly going to bid for round three.

“We will be putting bids together again for Leigh and Ashton, in addition to further bids for Wigan.

“I think it’s most important that we make this statement very clearly; when we look at the amount of funding we have lost for local government, in some ways I feel like we’re just asking for our money back, and it is being drip-fed back rather than being paid in full.

“So, as much as I’m very pleased about the Haigh bid – we’re going again and whatever we need to do, we’ll do it and make sure we’re successful with those further bids.”

The Wigan bid, with Haigh Hall as its focal point, will focus on restoring and repurposing the Grade II Listed hall, creating a cultural destination of national significance.

Leigh and Ashton bids for round two of the Levelling Up Fund included town centre regeneration projects, including the towns’ markets and public realm improvements.