THE COUNCIL have decided to plough on with their Levelling Up bid for Leigh despite the lack of support from the town's MP James Grundy.
Wigan Council submitted a bid of £11.4m to regenerate Leigh town centre last week, looking to secure funding from the Government's £4.8b Levelling Up Fund (LUF).
The proposals look to revamp Civic Square, enhance town centre shop fronts, and refurbish Leigh Market.
READ > Council submit £11.4m Levelling Up bid for Leigh, despite opposition from James Grundy
Conservative MP for Leigh James Grundy opted not to give his support for the bid in his constituency, explaining that he could not support a bid for less than £20m.
The dropping of a multi-million-pound Business Centre was a sticking point for the MP, who further stated that he could not back a bid that received almost 60% negative feedback from the public.
Noting the strict criteria in applying for the Levelling Up Fund, the Council instead submitted the bid with the support of local organisations, schools and colleges, public bodies, Greater Manchester bodies and ward councillors.
The Council have also made a £20m Levelling Up bid for Wigan and another worth £7.2m bid in Ashton-in-Makerfield, which has the support of the respective MPs.
READ > James Grundy 'disappointed' by Leigh's Levelling Up bid and calls for full £20m
Responding to James Grundy's decision not to back the Leigh bid, Leader of Wigan Council, Councillor David Molyneux MBE, said:
“We are disappointed that we have not been able to secure the support of the MP for Leigh, James Grundy.
“The council has worked extremely closely with Mr Grundy throughout recent months with significant progress made regarding the bid’s details, and the rationale behind all of the decisions discussed.
“Having been given indications throughout this process that priority support was likely to be agreed, the move away from this position during the final stages has been extremely frustrating.
“Given the significant stakeholder support for the bid and the uncertainty around further LUF rounds, we believe the decision to press ahead is the right one for the Leigh community.
“It is important to note that LUF submissions require bidders to meet strict requirements and we firmly believe our proposals across all three bids find the right balance between ambition and achievability.”
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