Lichfield District Council leader Mike Wilcox
Lichfield District Council leader Mike Wilcox

The leader of Lichfield District Council has welcomed the distribution of money from a regional scheme to areas outside of Birmingham.

Part of the funding for the new Friarsgate development has come from the Local Growth Fund managed by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.

Mike Wilcox
Cllr Mike Wilcox

Cllr Mike Wilcox, leader of Lichfield District Council said that the move showed that the money was being distributed to benefit a wide range of areas.

“It’s good to see Local Growth Fund benefiting areas outside Birmingham such as Cannock and ourselves,” he said.

“We’ve had £2.4million for Friarsgate which will hopefully begin next year which is good news.”

There had been criticism of Lichfield District Council’s decision not to join the West Midlands Combined Authority last year.

Speaking at the time of the decision not to sign up, Cllr Wilcox said the membership of two Local Enterprise Partnerships would ensure the area didn’t miss out on benefits coming into the region.

But opposition group leader, Cllr Sue Woodward, said on social media today that there could still be benefits for Lichfield District Council if it opted to do a U-Turn and join a regional combined authority:

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