Crossword

CAT SMITH MP (cont)

inspiring and exciting event for thousands of children. But the new conservative administration at Lancashire County Council has dropped the proposal which is devastating for all those people who knew how transformative it would have been. Arts Council funding is significantly lower in Lancashire than in comparable counties and cities and there is an inequality in quantity and scale of major arts organisations. Please, if you think this decision is wrong, write to Phillippa Williamson, the leader of Lancashire County Council and ask her to reverse the decision.

Fleetwood Regeneration

I’m very pleased to have been involved in putting together a bid for ‘levelling up’ funding from the government to begin the regeneration of Fleetwood. As has so often been proved, when one area like Fleetwood begins to regenerate it has a knock-on effect on neighbouring areas like Over Wyre. This summer, myself, along with Wyre Council and a whole host of talented partners, have submitted a request for £8.56m in the hopes the government will finally recognise that Fleetwood is in desperate need of support and funding. Last year the government announced it would invest up to £830 million to help areas recover from the pandemic and to help transform underused town centres into vibrant places to live, work and shop. Wyre Council submitted a bid for £22 million but on Boxing Day the government confirmed the council had been unsuccessful in attracting funding. This was utterly astonishing. There are wards in Fleetwood that are some of the most deprived in the country. At least 20 per cent of children live in poverty. More than a third

CROSSWORD (ans page 59)

Across

1 Modern music event (3) 6 Outsider; victim (8) 7 To be or ___ to be? (3) 9 Chronicle; saga (7) 10 Store; distribution centre (5) 11 Sacked (5) 12 Version; publication (7) 13 Everything (3) 15 Contained (8) 16 Undertook (3)

Down

1 Alcoholic drink (3) 2 Stomach (3) 3 Allow; confess (5) 4 GB – Great ______ (7) 5 Entry chime (8) 8 Too much; almost burnt (8) 9 Guesthouses (7) 11 Creases (5) 13 Plus (3) 14 Boy (3)

CAT SMITH MP (cont)

of working age people have no qualifications and the town has the lowest life expectancy of 65 to 77 as shown on the index of multiple deprivation 2019. High rates of smoking cause high rates of lung disease and cancer, drug deaths, alcohol-related harm, significant levels of mental health issues and a high suicide rate all contribute towards people in Fleetwood living shorter lives. Given all these factors, I just couldn’t understand why Fleetwood wasn’t chosen. But the important thing is – we haven’t given up and I’m desperately hoping that this time around we’ll be more successful. The purpose of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF), announced at the 2020 Spending Review, is to invest in local infrastructure that has a ‘visible impact on people and their communities’. I hope the decision makers in London understand that this bid is absolutely critical if Fleetwood and neighbouring areas are to enjoy the same job opportunities, educational opportunities, access to services and transport links that other towns boast. Our proposal includes three projects focussing on Fleetwood Market, Fleetwood Museum and the Fleetwood Port Redevelopment site. The Fleetwood Market project would revive the derelict land just next to the market creating a new workspace for commercial creative business. The plans utilise repurposed sustainable shipping containers to create an interesting contrast to the adjacent Victorian Market Hall providing flexible start-up spaces for local businesses, classroom sites, meeting rooms and collaborative working spaces. The plans for Fleetwood Museum include a fully accessible new visitor centre on the existing site allowing us to attract more visitors to the town. A new entrance will link Queens Terrace and Custom House Lane with the creation of a new ‘pocket park’ funded through the existing Heritage Action Zone. Fleetwood Port will see the redevelopment of derelict waterfront land with new flood defences to improve the seafront of the town by creating a coastal park for residents and visitors. The vision is to revive this gateway into Fleetwood and provide waterside views across the estuary with new pedestrian and cycle routes along the coast and into the town centre – and the new flood defences mean new houses can be built – including affordable and specialist housing. I hope this will be the start of a new era for Fleetwood – one where the people of the town can start to see improvements that become a catalyst for change. For the last decade our coastal towns have been ignored and forgotten about. Whilst the Covid pandemic has been exceptionally challenging for everyone – there have been a few positives such as the potential for British holidaymakers to enjoy more staycations, meaning resorts