Details of the planning application for part of Winsford town centre's regeneration – funded by the Government’s Future High Streets Fund – have now been published, following our town receiving £9,980,000 of the £830 million Fund in a competitive process under my sponsorship.

Indeed, Winsford is one of only 15 towns to secure the full funding they bid for in that process.

In 2020 the council budgeted £11.7 million additional funding to deliver redevelopment as part of the masterplan for Winsford town centre by March 2024.

The aim of the Future High Streets Fund is to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that drives growth, improves experience and ensures future sustainability.

In 2018 the council purchased Winsford Cross Shopping Centre, which gives local people greater control over the future of the town centre, and allows the delivery of a more appropriate mix of uses: such as entertainment, leisure, housing, education, community facilities, arts and culture, and office space, as well as shops.

READ MORE > Restaurants, shops & garden centre planned as part of £21m Winsford regeneration

From May to July last year, a public consultation on the draft masterplan took place, receiving more than 400 responses, which helped to develop and refine the plans further, and – crucially – enabled the Winsford public to have their say on what they want their town to look like, and how this hard-fought-for cash should be spent.

Having heard the community's thoughts, the council will now ask for planning permission for development of part of the town centre to deliver:

  • new and increased public and private sector investment;
  • creation of new local jobs;
  • improved local services;
  • improvements to the local environment; and
  • improved perceptions of, and aspirations for, our town.

This is in addition to significantly-improved Gigabit-capable broadband across Winsford – a policy that I stood for at the last general election and improved road and transport safety.

I have said before, will say again, and will keep on saying: taken together, a more vibrant, economically active, thoughtfully and collectively regenerated town with more jobs, safer roads, better broadband and more community facilities is a LOT to look forward to for Winsford.

If you missed out on last year's public consultation, but you still have views on how Winsford could be improved, make sure you send them to me at edwardtimpson.com/contact – where you can also sign up to my e-newsletter – as well as to your town council, and be a part of that exciting future.