Neighbourhood allowed to decide how to spend £20m

4 hours ago

Danielle HuntGloucestershire

News image — Matson and Robinswood locals will choose how to spend a yearly government sum for community benefit

BBC A row of businesses with three storey flats above. There is a pavement and a road outside the premises. There is a row of cars parked on the opposite side of the road in parking bays. The sky is grey and overcast. — Matson and Robinswood locals will choose how to spend a yearly government sum for community benefit

Residents in an area of Gloucester are to decide how to spend £2m a year for 10 years on neighbourhood and community improvements.

A panel, made up of locals from Matson and Robinswood, will make decisions on where the money goes, supported by the local MP and local authority.

The government says the Pride in Place programme funding is a new way of deciding how to spend public money on local projects and it aims to "help build stronger communities, create thriving places and empower local people".

People living in the area will soon be able to apply to sit on the decision making panel which, once formed, will choose the first projects to fund.

Girl secures cash needed for school zebra crossing

Forensic water used to tackle rise in shoplifting

Man who told ex to clean-up blood during attack jailed

'Right direction'

GL Communities Roy Kellett stands in the Matson Rose Garden. Roy is wearing a dark green beanie hat, black framed glasses, a black zip-up waterpoof jacket and khaki coloured trousers. There is a lawn behind him with a row of tall trees and a bright blue sky with a couple of whispy light clouds. Just behind Roy's legs are mostly empty flowerbeds with soil visible and a few shrubs. — Volunteer gardener Roy Kellett hopes the money will be spent on repurposing existing empty buildings into community drop-in spaces

Pride in Place communities like Matson and Robinswood will be able to spend the money on what matters most to them, from improvements to pavements and high streets to investing in culture and green spaces.

As part of the programme, communities will also have new powers to take control of local assets and deal with vacant or derelict buildings.

Roy Kellett, a volunteer who runs the Matson Community Gardening Group every Wednesday, said: "It's going to be fantastic. It's just making sure the money is spent wisely.

"I've got visions for the Matson Rose Garden, making it more inclusive.

"I would also like to see some kind of all purpose building that a variety of organisations could use.

"The loss of the Phoenix Centre has been a real sad thing. There's not something now where someone could just drop in to have a cuppa and get to know people.

"Having the building in use again would be fantastic."

'We have no shops'

Vanessa Worrall Vanessa Worrall's face smiling and looking at the camera. She wears purple framed glasses. She has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is wearing glasses and a chain of brown and orange beads and is also wearing silver hoop earrings. — Vanessa Worrall from the Redwell Centre said she hopes the community panel format will get residents what they need

The Labour MP for Gloucester, Alex McIntyre, said the money gives "residents the opportunity to shape the plans and make the big decisions".

Vanessa Worrall, project manager of Together in Matson The Redwell Centre, said she's "absolutely over the moon" because "we are a place that needs it".

"We have no shops so the first thing I'd look at is putting in shops.

"I see it's got to be run by a community panel so it will actually get us what we need rather then being told what we should have.

"Community members may not have the skills to do this major amount of money and they'll need some training."

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, leader of Gloucester City Council, said: "It is important this money is spent wisely and supports the existing key objectives of the city and county councils to improve everyday life.

"I await more details from central government with much interest."

The total amount of £5.8bn is being shared between 284 communities, targeting neighbourhoods which the government says "have for too long been overlooked and left behind".

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.