Cumbernauld, Greenock and Kilmarnock win shares of levelling up cash
10 projects in Scotland are getting money from the £2bn fund
Last updated 19th Jan 2023
Cumbernauld, Greenock, Kilmarnock and Stirling are among 10 places in Scotland getting a share of £2 billion of 'levelling up' funds across the UK.
More than £9 million will be spent on a project to transform the Lanarkshire 'new town' which has twice been voted the 'Plook on the Plinth', for Scotland's most dismal place.
The funds will support the demolition and regeneration of two failing shopping centres and a vacant office block which it's hoped will bring education, employment and homes into the heart of North Lanarkshire's largest town.
The new vision for Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld Town Hub
Artists' impression of the redeveloped Cumbernauld town centre
Theatre restoration
10 projects in Scotland will share £177 million of the levelling up funding.
£20m will be spent in Kilmarnock which put in a bid for money to restore the 163-year-old Palace Theatre, and to build a new car park for the town centre.
Another £20 million will go towards undoing developments dating from the 1960s and 1970s with a scheme in Greenock to demolish and reroute the A78 dual carriageway.
The aim is to reconnect and transform the town centre into a modern, vibrant hub based around public squares and green spaces.
Where is the money being spent?
The £2.1 billion funding has been split in three ways:
- £672 million to develop better transport links
- £821 million for community regeneration
- £594 million to go towards restoring local heritage sites
The announcement of the funding comes alongside the launch of a new interactive map, which shows which projects in your area have received funding.
Other Scottish projects
• In Stirling, more than £19 million will go towards the regeneration of the Forthside area, helping to create 1,000 new jobs.
• Almost £18 million will help Dumfries and Galloway turn redundant spaces and buildings into new cultural and leisure opportunities.
• In Dundee, £14 million will go towards redeveloping a multi-storey car park into a sustainable transport hub, creating 350 electrical vehicle charging points, car share spaces, and an e-bike hire scheme.
• More than £19.4 million to accelerate the regeneration of Riverside Park in Fife and improve access to the River Leven with new walking routes.
• In Aberdeenshire, £20 million will transform Peterhead’s disused Arbuthnot House into a new museum, library and cultural hub, while the marine aquarium in Macduff will be modernised and expanded.
• In East Lothian, nearly £11.3 million of funding will help free up land at a former coal fired power station for future, green regeneration.
• Nearly £27 million will go towards the work needed for a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle.
A promise kept, says PM
The Department for Levelling Up promised that the latest round of levelling up funding would deliver much-needed economic growth and new jobs to communities across the country, as the Prime Minister promised to “build a future of optimism”.
Rishi Sunak said: “Through greater investment in local areas, we can grow the economy, create good jobs and spread opportunity everywhere.
“That’s why we are backing more than 100 projects with new transformational funding to level up local communities across the United Kingdom.
“By reaching even more parts of the country than before, we will build a future of optimism and pride in people’s lives and the places they call home.”
The levelling up vision was one pioneered by former prime minister Boris Johnson, who promised to “level up” towns and communities across the UK.
"Hunger Games-style" contest
Lisa Nandy, the Labour shadow levelling up secretary, offered a scathing assessment of the fund as she accused the Government of "extraordinary arrogance".
"The Levelling Up Fund is in chaos, beset by delays and allegations of favouritism," the Labour frontbencher said.
"It takes an extraordinary arrogance to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have stripped out of our communities, which has decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care.
"It is time to end this Hunger Games-style contest where communities are pitted against one another and Whitehall ministers pick winners and losers."