Published: Thursday, 7th November 2019
Efforts to secure millions of pounds of transformational funding for King’s Lynn stepped up this week with the inaugural meeting of the Future High Streets Fund Consultative Board.
The board, which has been drawn together to oversee the submission of the business case for Future High Street Funding, is made up of representatives from the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Norfolk County Council, Freebridge Community Housing, New Anglia LEP, Norfolk Museums Service, King’s Lynn BID and Vancouver Quarter.
The main role of the board is to represent the views of stakeholders and to help shape proposed projects that will be included in the draft business case. A local consultative approach is vital to the success of the submission.
Matthew Henry, Assistant Director, Regeneration & Property said: “This is an opportunity for us to secure transformational funding for our town but it’s not an easy process. Any project we put forward needs to be deliverable within the four-year timescale, needs to have a positive impact on the town’s economy and should fit within the themes identified through our initial consultation for our original expression of interest.”
“Work is underway assessing a list of potential capital projects to determine those which will be most beneficial to the town as well as most likely to secure the funding. Alongside this are other elements of work, such as exploring how cultural and creative elements could be included in the submission, how we encourage and enable town centre living and how we bring the town’s heritage to life.”
“It is an ambitious project, but if we are successful, it could really revitalise the town centre and reinforce its vitality.”
To support the submission, further consultation is being launched on Monday, 11 November 2019 and will run until 29 November 2019. This builds on the original consultation in February 2019 which asked people for their views on King’s Lynn town centre. More than 750 people had their say and their feedback helped to inform the successful expression of interest to the Future High Streets Fund.
People taking part in this next consultation will be entered into a prize draw and could be in with a chance of winning one of three prizes of £100 of vouchers to spend in King’s Lynn town centre.
There are three ways that people can get involved:
- Online survey – look out for links from the Vision King’s Lynn social media channels – Facebook @visionkingslynn, Twitter @vision_lynn and Instagram visionkingslynn.
- Survey cards: these will be available for completion at shops, cafes and attractions around the town.
- Two consultation events: these will take place in the Tuesday Market Place. People will be able to come along for a face-to-face chat about how they use the town, how they feel about the town, and what would improve their experience.
- Saturday 16 November 2019 from 2pm to 5pm
- Sunday 24 November 2019 from noon to 2pm
The feedback from these consultation sessions will be drawn together in a report for the consultative board, who will look to see if there are any strong themes that will help shape the detail of the business case.
The draft business case is due to be submitted on 15 January 2019. Then there will be an opportunity to do some fine tuning before the final business case is submitted next April.
Updates about the Future High Streets Fund submission, and other funding for the town centre, will be shared across the Vision King’s Lynn social media channels Facebook @visionkingslynn, Twitter @vision_lynn and Instagram visionkingslynn.