A £20 million bid for funding for Glossop from the Government's Levelling Up Fund has been unsuccessful. 

The High Peak Borough Council bid was to provide new leisure and wellbeing and enhanced cultural facilities for the town. 

To the disappointment of all involved, the bid was not among the 111 which succeeded in securing funding totalling £2.1 billion. 

The council's bid package focused on two schemes - a new leisure centre and wellbeing hub on the old Glossopdale School site on Talbot Road, and investment to boost and speed up plans to fully re-open Victoria Hall as a live performance venue and community hub. 

Staffordshire Moorland District Council, which is part of a strategic alliance with HPBC, secured £17.1 million for the regeneration of Leek town centre.  

This funding will be used to modernise Leek's Victorian market halls, upgrade the local library, museum, and exhibition space, and build a new swimming pool.   

The empty site of the former Glossopdale School on Talbot Road in Glossop 

While Oldham Council secured £20 million to maximise net zero carbon opportunities in Oldham by positioning the borough as a sustainable destination for green businesses. 

The government has also confirmed there will be a further round of the Levelling Up Fund, providing more opportunity to level up places across the UK. 

In the first round, Ashton was allocated almost £20 million to fund work to restore Ashton Town Hall and support the development of a three-storey car park, new commercial space, residential units, retail space and new cycle routes. 

Council disappointed 

High Peak Borough Council say it is disappointed to miss out on the funding. 

Council Leader, Councillor Anthony Mckeown, said a strong bid was submitted which had the support of a wide range of partners and stakeholders, including MP Robert Largan. 

Cllr Mckeown said in a statement: “The schemes we proposed would have made a big impact on the wellbeing and health of our communities and further enhanced the multi-million-pound investment the Council is making in Glossop Halls to regenerate the town centre and to return Victoria Hall to full use as a cultural venue. 

“Instead, Glossop has been excluded from realising these wider benefits and we will need to look again at alternative ways of providing the modern health and leisure and arts and cultural amenities that we know the residents and businesses in Glossop want to see.” 

Cllr Anthony Mckeown 

Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Regeneration, Tourism and Leisure, Cllr Damien Greenhalgh, said they had been hopeful they would attract the investment and were now “understandably, a little disheartened”. 

He said: “We have a fantastic group of volunteers at Victoria Hall who want to see investment in the building as much as we do and we’ll continue to pursue all options to make sure that happens. 

“We’ll also need to re-consider how we can improve the leisure and wellbeing offer in Glossop so that people living and working here have access to the sort of amenities that other communities enjoy.” 

MP says council 'dragged their feet' 

MP Robert Largan has expressed his disappointment and criticised the council for the way it handled the bid. 

He highlighted that the Government provided more than £100,000 to help High Peak Borough Council develop a Levelling Up Fund bid and said it was unclear how much of this money had actually been spent. 

“I am bitterly disappointed by the announcement that High Peak Borough Council have yet again failed to secure £20 million in investment from the Levelling Up Fund," the Conservative MP said. 

High Peak MP Robert Largan 

“The Labour-run Council dragged their feet on every key decision – missing the deadline for the first round of funding – and excluded me from key moments in the decision-making process entirely.  

“I had to consistently push the Council to meet the required deadlines and to properly engage with local residents and key stakeholders. 

“This was an historic opportunity for High Peak. It has sadly been squandered by Labour’s incompetence. 

“Thankfully, the Government has confirmed that there will be another chance to secure Levelling Up funding for High Peak. Again, I’ll do my best to work on a cross-party basis to develop a stronger bid – putting our case to the highest levels of government – to try and secure this funding.” 

He said the council's bid was assessed by independent civil servants on a range of criteria and scored poorly on the measures used to prioritise funding applications. As a result, the bid was not even shortlisted by independent officials for ministerial approval. 

Station bid not taken forward  

Mr Largan said initially he expected a train station for Gamesley would be part of the bid to the Levelling Up Fund, after meeting with HPBC in 2021 and 2022. 

He stated it was only at a very late stage in the process that the council settled on a bid for a new leisure centre and wellbeing hub.  

Mr Largan said, despite his urging, the council did little to engage with the local NHS to fully explore the health aspect of the proposals, which would have significantly strengthened the bid. 

HPBC said proposals for a new train station in Gamesley were not taken forward to bid submission stage following advice from the relevant transport authorities. 

Council Leader Cllr Mckeown said: “As the Borough Council is not a transport authority, we sought the advice of those authorities that are responsible, and they advised that they would not seek to make a bid to the Levelling Up fund for a station in Gamesley. 

“We have, however, subsequently funded a study with our partners to try and resolve the issues with a view to making a possible future bid.” 

High Peak Labour hits out at Government 

After High Peak missed out on Levelling Up Funding, questions need to be asked of the Conservative Government, according to the High Peak Constituency Labour Party. 

Deputy Leader of Labour-led HPBC Cllr Greenhalgh said: “As a born and bred Glossopian, I am deeply disappointed by the government’s decision. There are clear questions to be answered over how his funding has been allocated across the country.” 

Adding: “This is a real kick in the teeth for everyone who believes in our town, its heritage and its future.” 

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh

Leader of the Council, Cllr Mckeown, said: "I'm disappointed that our Levelling Up bid has not been chosen for funding. Significant work has gone into this project.” 

He thanked the many local residents, organisations and businesses who contributed to the vision put forward. 

“Despite this setback, we will continue to look for other opportunities to secure funding to secure the improvements our residents deserve.” 

Cllr Mckeown said they understand that there were £7bn worth of bids for the £2bn.  

He said: “If this government is serious about tackling regional inequality, they need to provide local authorities with the resources that empower us to deliver improvements. Otherwise, levelling up is just an empty slogan.” 

Read more from the Glossop Chronicle

Click here for more of the latest news

Click here to read the latest edition of the paper online

Click here to find out where you can pick up a copy of the paper