Melton Council unveils plan on how it will spend £1M of new funding

Nottingham Street in Melton Mowbray town centre

The money has come from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to reduce inequalities between communities, as part of the government’s wider ‘Levelling Up’ agenda.

But Melton Borough Council has to demonstrate it will use the £1.19M allocation effectively, spending it before the end of March 2025.

Councillor Rob Bindloss said “We undertook extensive consultation with partners, local stakeholders and organisations in the borough to understand the most valuable way to spend any funding we received.

"The proposals made will help mitigate some of the many challenges being faced by our residents, businesses and visitors and help support the borough at a challenging time for us all.

"This funding will seek to help encourage economic growth, improve quality of life and enhance visitor experience across the borough for all of our

residents, workers, businesses and visitors.”

If accepted, the borough will see multiple projects take place over the next three years that will, amongst other things, help:

**People to find jobs, deal with the cost of living crisis and have better access to digital infrastructure;

**Support the growth of businesses in the borough through direct business advice initiatives and grants as well as attracting inward investment into the borough;

**Increase tourism numbers into the borough through enhanced promotion and marketing of the many fantastic things to do in Melton to attract more visitors to the area;

**Enhance people’s experiences in Melton through providing more greenery in the town centre, giving grants to support local arts and cultural events across the borough and giving a voice to younger people in the community through developing local youth initiatives.

Once agreed, these projects will be delivered alongside local and regional partners to ensure local expertise and skills are utilised and to guarantee that the projects, where they are able to do so, have a legacy impact beyond the three year scope of the programme.

Click HERE to find more information about the council’s submission and view the overview of the plan.