Bringing the buzz back to London's high streets
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has today (August 3rd) awarded almost £10m of funding from his Outer London Fund to 20 boroughs, including £1.2m of funding for Richmond, to help them bring the buzz back to their high-streets and boost their local economy. A further £40m from the Fund will be awarded later this year.
Set up in March, the Mayor's Outer London Fund is a £50m three year scheme to grow economic activity and drive employment in parts of London benefitting less directly from large-scale infrastructure investment in the capital such as Crossrail and the 2012 Games. £10m was made available in this first round of funding with the aim of providing boroughs with immediate access to funds which they can use to increase the attractiveness and economic competitiveness of their town centres in the build up to the Christmas period and throughout the New Year. The second round, open until October 14th, will see the allocation of over £40m of funding to develop longer-term projects to regenerate and rejuvenate areas ranging from a small parade of shops to town centres.
Richmond council are set to receive the most funding from the first round of the Outer London Fund with £1.2m for three projects in Twickenham, Whitton and Barnes. £496,700 was awarded to Twickenham town centre. The funding will be spent improving the overall look of the high street by upgrading lamp columns, improving shop fronts, landscape lighting and signage. In Whitton £361,200 has been allocated to make repairs and alterations to shop fronts, replace street lighting to restore the 1930's character of the area and animate the town centre with visual arts. While in Barnes £376,595 will be spent upgrading paving, developing a 'Barnes Trail', enhancing Christmas lights and developing a traders network.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "Investing in our town centres and local areas is absolutely key to maintaining London's position as the best big city in the world. This cash injection means councils, like Richmond, can start work today to attract more people into their area, boost economic growth and bring the buzz back to their high streets.
"But this is just the beginning. With over £40m left to spend immense changes are on the horizon for some of London's town centres, changes that will not only enhance but intensify the character, colour and identity of those places we call home."
Daniel Moylan, Deputy Chairman of Transport for London, who is working closely with the Mayor on the Outer London Fund said: "This money will provide a real boost for town centres which are suffering from the effects of a slower than expected economic recovery. Giving councils immediate access to the funds means that they can plough ahead with their successful bids and get their areas ready to take full advantage of the Christmas period. An investment in our town centres is an investment in economic growth and quality of life for all Londoners and I look forward to the proposals for the second round of the Fund which are set to bring about real long-term change for centres across the capital."
