Levelling up bid update

Published Tuesday 7 June, 2022
Last updated on Tuesday 7 June, 2022

There’s a month to go until a bid for up to £20 million of Government funding for Sheerness will be submitted.

Swale Borough Council is working on plans to bid for the maximum amount of funding available from the Levelling Up Fund and will be updating Sheppey Area Committee on the plans tonight (Tuesday 7 June).

The update follows weeks of work to look at the ideas and suggestions from a consultation earlier in the year. These have been costed and assessed to see what would meet the Government’s criteria for the funding, ready for the final bid to be submitted on 6 July.

Cllr Monique Bonney, chair of the regeneration and property committee at the council, said:

“We were amazed - but not surprised - by the enthusiastic response to the consultation earlier this year. There were some great ideas, but just as importantly there was a fantastic amount of support from the local community.

“We’ve spent the last couple of months working on options and costings for ideas and plans, but we do have to be realistic.

“Big ambitions and increasing prices mean we need to think carefully about what we can put in this bid if we want it to be approved and deliver the improvements Sheerness deserves.

“By doing this work now we’re putting together a solid blueprint for breathing new life into the town, and we’ll be in a stronger position than ever before to bid for other funding in the future.

“The plans we’re now finalising are the first stage in what we hope will be the revival of Sheerness, with benefits that spread across the whole Island.

“We want to deliver better facilities for residents with expansion of the health centre. There will be more opportunities for local young people with a greater range of courses available from the college, and Master’s House will help create and support local jobs.

“We want to build on the town’s holiday heritage and create a place for locals and visitors to enjoy, with better connections between the high street, station and seafront.

“Bringing in attractions like tag active, soft play and adventure golf, alongside a new café, outdoor gym and new toilets will help bring people back to the town.

“A new pool won’t be part of this phase of the bid, and a number of other suggestions simply aren’t feasible on the site or wouldn’t be possible in the timescales the government have set. But we now have worked up plans and costings ready for the next round of bidding.

“We have to thank everyone who’s helped us get to where we are now. There’s still work to do, but I think we’re making great progress in putting together an ambitious bid that stays within the government’s funding limit and can start delivering genuine improvement for Sheerness.”

For more information on the bid, visit our levelling up page.