Liverpool City Region approves £6 million to revitalise town centres

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority approved up to £6 million – up to £1 million for each of its six local authorities – to support plans to revitalise town centres across the Liverpool City Region.

The Metro Mayor agreed with Leaders to commission the £6 million fund in October last year and, since then, the local authorities have been working up high-level investment programmes, identifying which town centres they wish to nominate, along with proposals for what they intend to do.

Those interventions include masterplan strategies, public realm improvements, physical and digital infrastructure, business support, town centre management and events and marketing activities.

The ten town centres (or district centre in the case of Liverpool City Council) identified for initial investment are:

• Bootle
• County Road, Liverpool
• Earlestown
• Halton Lea
• Huyton
• Liscard
• New Ferry
• Prescot
• Southport
• St Helens

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: 'Our high streets were once the beating heart of our communities. But with the rise of new technologies and changing customer habits – they face a stark choice: modernisation or further decline.

'That is why we have introduced this £6 million fund – to reimagine and reshape what our town centres look like in the 21st century.  By working with our local authorities we can take action to ensure they thrive over the next 20 years.

'We must ensure that every part of our region prospers – and that is why we’ve ensured each borough receives exactly the same amount from this fund.'

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