What one community would like £20m 'Pride' money spent on

Lakenheath may be best known for its United States Air Force base but it has also recently been given £20m to be spent over the next 10 years.

The money is to make community improvements like investing in the High Street, parks or public buildings.

It is part of the government's Pride in Place scheme which is a £5bn investment for 339 communities across the UK.

It has been two months since the funding was announced and we've been to Lakenheath on a cold Wednesday in November to see what is on the community's wish list.

Every week Joanne Beek volunteers and cooks a free hot lunch for up to 30 people at the Meet & Eat at Lakenheath Community Centre. She says it is "packed" during school holidays and would like to be able to do more.

"You've got the committee here working themselves sometimes to the ground to do stuff to help and we're all putting in our time for free. If someone's telling us here's a lump of money, we could put on nicer food, we could get new tables and chairs, we could buy nicer toys, we could offer other free stuff," she says.

Ms Beek believes people have a perception of Lakenheath that, because of the air base, it is affluent, but she says "it's a nice village to live in but it is not a rich village".

In deciding where this Pride in Place money goes, the government says it uses a number of indexes — and it is the community needs index that Gerald Kelly, vice-chairman of the parish council, thinks put Lakenheath on the list.

He sees the £2m a year as an opportunity to deliver an improved High Street and employment opportunities.

Also high on his agenda will be a new path around the village to make it safer.

He says there are "8,000 vehicle movements a day on the main road" and a new primary school being built on the outskirts needs an accessible path.

"We want a way of getting access for wheelchairs, pedestrians and runners to the school without having to add to the traffic on the road," said Kelly.

He believes the path could cost about £800,000.

Sandra Taylor moved to Lakenheath six years ago after retiring and is visiting Meet & Eat.

The 70-year-old says: "We've got a new housing estate coming up, but we've got no real things for the young ones or the older ones.

"You need something for everyone not just those that are retired. We need to be able to integrate them into the community."

Emma Spencer, 45, has lived in Lakenheath all her life. She believes the village "deserves" the money.

"Lakenheath has grown and grown but sadly the amenities, infrastructure and facilities haven't grown with it," she says.

"The children need things to get involved with as there's sadly vandalism down at the park. We need cycle paths and walking paths to link around the village. We need better bus routes and more shops as so many people live here."

Volunteer Joanne's husband David Beek is a trustee of the community centre and knows the building needs upgrading.

"We want to put wi-fi in; the dance floor is out of the 1930s and we need a new one," he says.

"We've got a plan of how we do that with our own funds, but when the Pride in Place money got announced we thought that's great — our 10-year plan now goes down to six months or a year."

How the money is actually spent will be decided by a neighbourhood board.

Who becomes its chairperson will be decided by West Suffolk Council in consultation with the local Conservative MP Nick Timothy.

He says it is not up to him to decide where the money is spent but it is important "the village is set up to succeed and that touches lots of different things like housing, transport, amenities, the future of the High Street, like opportunities for good jobs".

The MP, whose West Suffolk constituency also includes Brandon, Haverhill, Mildenhall and Newmarket, has an online survey up and running for residents to have their say on what they want.

Across the East of England, 13 neighbourhoods or villages have been allocated funds with Ipswich getting a £1.5m one-off payment.

Two other areas in Suffolk also received £20m funding spread over five years — West Felixstowe and Central Lowestoft.

The first lot of funding is not expected to be available to spend until 2027.

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