Burntwood has been told it would be a “prime candidate” for Levelling Up funding.
The district missed out on funding after a bid to support a new leisure centre development in Lichfield.
But Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has told Lichfield’s MP the profile of Burntwood would make the town more likely to be successful in the next round of funding.
Michael Fabricant asked:
“My Rt Hon Friend will know that we were very disappointed in Lichfield that after two bids we weren’t awarded any grant to help with the urgent construction of a new leisure centre.
“But does he not agree with me that possibly an application for Burntwood, an ex-mining town in the Lichfield constituency, might actually be more successful?”
Michael Fabricant
Mr Gove responded:
“My Hon Friend is a brilliant advocate for Lichfield – it may well be that his impassioned advocacy for the community that he has come to call ‘LichVegas’, may have meant that bids for the leisure centre might have been seen as de trop.
“But Burntwood certainly seems to be one of the communities that would be a prime candidate.”
Michael Gove
The decision not to award Lichfield any Levelling Up funding had previously seen Mr Fabricant suggest that “flaws” in the bid were to blame – a claim rejected by members of the council’s leadership team.
The Conservative MP has also said projects such as the redevelopment scheme at Chasetown Football Club would have been more likely to succeed than the Lichfield leisure centre application.
Speaking after the Levelling Up Secretary’s comments, Mr Fabricant said:
“I had explained to Lichfield District Council that their bid for the new leisure centre, while very much needed, was always going to be a ‘long shot’ – and I know that this was understood by both the leader Cllr Doug Pullen and the chief executive.
“Nevertheless we all agreed it was worth applying and I supported this with the knowledge that alternative funding sources would be available if the bid failed.
“However, the bid was flawed – not by any error contained in the bid, but because it was impossible to prove Levelling Up funding need especially compared to the needs of poorer applicants in England and Wales.
“It was made clear in Government documentation that funding is primarily aimed at three categories of area – post-industrial towns, failing seaside resorts, and ex-mining communities. The city of Lichfield is none of these.
“But Burntwood is an ex mining community and I urge the council to think of a major and imaginative project there which would meet the needs of the local community. “
Michael Fabricant
