Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski presses Number 10 on levelling up funding
An MP says he has directly lobbied Number 10 Downing Street officials in the hope the county does not miss out on the latest round of levelling up funding.
Daniel Kawczynski, Conservative MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, attended a meeting with Number 10's policy unit advisors on Tuesday afternoon.
The MP said he had used the opportunity to press the case for Shropshire's bid for levelling up funding from the Government.
The council missed out on the last round of funding, but last week agreed to submit a fresh bit to the latest round – expected to be awarded in July.
The overall bid includes projects in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Craven Arms.
The Shrewsbury bid includes money towards ambitious plans to redevelop the Riverside area of the town, as well as to improve routes in and out of the town centre.
Mr Kawczynski said he had discussed the importance of the Riverside development plan.
He said: "We had very productive discussion with officials from Number 10. We talked about the levelling up funding and the next round which will be awarded in July.
"Clearly I am disappointed that Shropshire Council did not get the funding for the town centre redevelopment last time. I consider the re-development of the town centre to be absolutely critical for Shropshire's long-term prosperity.
"The Riverside Shopping Centre and all that area needs to be re-developed with hotels, accommodation, offices, it is a massive wonderful brownfield site."
He added: "I made strong representations. I made an appeal that they have been giving a lot of money to the 'red wall' seats in the north of England and I asked them to bear in mind the tremendous economic opportunity this represents, not just for Shrewsbury but for Shropshire."
