Secretary Of State Visits Scarborough To Tour Pride In Place Projects

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed has visited Scarborough on Thursday for a whistlestop tour of three projects green-lit for the first phase of the town's Pride in Place funding.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, has visited Scarborough for a whistlestop tour of three projects green-lit for the first phase of the town's Pride in Place funding.

The senior cabinet minister was welcomed to the Yorkshire Coast by the Member of Parliament for Scarborough and Whitby, Alison Hume.

The Pride in Place programme will see Scarborough receive endowment-style funding over the next ten years, with the Labour Government releasing £20 million to support regeneration, improve wellbeing, and create a cleaner, safer town.

The first wave of projects was selected by the Scarborough Neighbourhood Board following extensive public consultation. This community engagement involved more than 1,294 responses from local residents and businesses, alongside input from 1,600 participants in the Let's Talk Scarborough initiative.

During the visit, Mr Reed and Ms Hume toured the Square One Development, the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and the Turning Tides youth support project.

The Member of Parliament for Scarborough and Whitby, Alison Hume, said:

"I was delighted to welcome Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to Scarborough for a whistlestop tour of three of the projects green-lit for the first phase of the town's Pride in Place Funding.

These projects were decided by you, the people of Scarborough. The Labour Government has released £20m funding over 10 years but given you the power to select where it is spent.

We visited the Square One Development and Stephen Joseph Theatre. The highlight was meeting young people at Turning Tides, the youth support project, based just around the corner from my office.

I'm so proud to represent Scarborough and Whitby. That's why I was so pleased to show a senior cabinet minister around our fantastic town."

Speaking to This is the Coast, The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, said the Pride in Place scheme is all about local decision making:

"The key to all of this is it's not for politicians like me sitting in an office in Westminster to tell people in Scarborough what needs to change to make life better for people who live here.

We need to give resources, power, decision-making to the people in Scarborough. So, pride in place is about that.

It's about frankly getting politicians out of the way, giving the resources to local people and the support they need to take decisions that's going to make Scarborough an even better place to live in, to grow up in, to bring up your family in, and to find a job."

One of the major regeneration projects visited was the Square One Development, which will see the former Brunswick Shopping Centre redeveloped into a leisure-led, mixed-use destination to revitalise the town centre and strengthen the evening economy. The project has received a £3.5 million capital contribution from the Pride in Place fund.

Speaking about the Square One Development, Mr Reed said:

"It's a really exciting opportunity, isn't it?

When you walk into that now closed down shopping centre, it looks and feels so sad. You can see the names of the shops that have all shut down, and you can feel this place once must have been buzzing with life and people. You'd have gone and met friends there. And now, look at it. It's empty, and it's right in the middle of town.

So, instead of having a derelict building, let's turn it into something that will bring life and opportunity back to Scarborough. And I think the idea of a cinema is a great one. People can go and mingle and meet there, but in all of those other retail spaces around where the cinema will be, so many other opportunities for activities, restaurants, bars, but it's not for the likes of me to decide.

This is about putting real power in the hands of the people of Scarborough, and we're going to back their ambition for their own town, rather than telling them what they need to do."

The ministerial tour also took in the Stephen Joseph Theatre, which is receiving a £400,000 capital contribution to improve environmental sustainability and accessibility at the venue, safeguarding a key cultural asset for the town.

Additionally, the pair visited the Turning Tides youth support programme. This initiative will deliver targeted, one-to-one resilience support for young people in the area.

During his visit to the Yorkshire Coast, the cabinet minister also discussed the national housing crisis and the need for affordable homes.

Mr Reed said:

"We've got a housing crisis in this country now.

You got we've got record numbers of people in temporary accommodation, families in particular. You got record numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets, and you've got young people growing up without able to find themselves somewhere they can rent let alone buy, we've got to change all of that.

So we're putting record amounts of money into building more council and social housing, that's affordable housing that's genuinely at rents people can afford. Last year, we built more new council and social homes in one year than in any year for the previous 40 years since records began.

So we're starting to make a difference, but again, you don't want statistics from me, you need to know where are those homes coming to Scarborough, and how can local people move into them because we fix this problem by making the homes available in the place you call your hometown."

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