DENTON will finally receive much-needed improvements to some of its civic buildings after the Government awarded the town almost £17 million from its Levelling Up Fund.
The Correspondent told how Tameside Council put forward a scheme that would see £2 million going towards improvements to Festival Hall to enable relocation of further council services and creation of a ‘neighbourhood hub.’
A further £1 million would go towards improving Denton Town Hall so it can be used more in future.
Now after losing out in round two, it has been successful in round three – securing £16,764,793, meaning those projects, plus significant improvements to the public realm around the town centre and Victoria Park, can go ahead as part of the Destination Denton package.
The fact the bid was ‘high quality’ and ‘ready to deliver’ swung things their way.
Jake Young, Minister for Levelling Up, said in a letter to the town’s MP, Andrew Gwynne: “Listening to feedback from parliamentarians and local government, including in relation to the first two rounds of this fund, we decided not to run a new competition.
“Instead, we have drawn on the impressive pool of bids submitted at round two, which we were not able to fund earlier in the year but were assessed as high quality and ready to deliver.
“I am pleased to say that this project was one such bid.
“I appreciate the hard work that went into the original application, by both you and your local council. I am very keen, as I am sure you are too, to get delivery and spend underway quickly.”
Government officials will check Denton’s Levelling Up bid is still valid, has not changed massively and the work can be done by March 2026.
One those are complete, the money will be handed over as Mr Young added: “Due to the time that has passed since the application was submitted, we will require a short project validation check to ensure the bid will still benefit from Government funding and remains a local priority.
“The provisional award of funding is for this specific project so the money cannot be used to support activity that is substantially different.
“However, we recognise that project adjustments may need to be made due to inflationary pressures.”
News of Denton’s success sparked celebrations from Mr Gwynne, who says the announcement came, ‘following intense lobbying of ministers at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities.’
He said: “I am delighted that ministers have finally heeded the calls from myself, Tameside councillors and residents, and given Denton the recognition it deserves.
“After banging on the department’s door for years, we have secured this significant pot of funding which will help unlock Denton’s clear potential.
“This is a welcome early Christmas present to people in Denton and across Tameside.
“I cannot wait to see the project get underway and start making a real difference to the local community.”
It would be very useful if the Correspondent could keep providing the residents of Denton on a monthly basis as to what Improvement Projects are going to go ahead and the timescale programme.
It is important that this money is not wasted and is put to good use. Given the size and population of Denton and to reduce the number of visits that people have to travel to Tameside Hospital Denton should have it’s own state of the art Health Centre that is open seven days per week complete with diagnostic department wellbeing services complete with GP surgeries.
A public pay car park at Crown Point is also needed