Nearly £10m in Chancellor's budget to go on redeveloping Wellington town centre
Nearly £10m will go towards the regeneration of Wellington after an announcement in the Chancellor's budget.
The Government confirmed it will provide £9.8m for the 'remodelling' of the town centre – including the market and the independent cinema, The Orbit.
The move has been welcomed by the town's politicians – both Conservative and Labour.
The Wrekin's Conservative MP Mark Pritchard, described it as an "economically historic day for Wellington".
Councillor Lee Carter, Telford & Wrekin Council's Labour Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, Regeneration and the High Street, said it was "exciting times for Wellington".
The money will be broken down into three sections – the first will be £7.8m to buy and refurbish the 13th Century market, another £1.7m to buy and extend The Orbit, as well as £1.3m for highways improvements.
Mr Pritchard said: "I am thrilled that, after many months of making the case for Wellington, helped by my local Conservative councillors, the Chancellor has announced this huge and unprecedented £9.8m investment into Wellington."
He added: "This is an economically historic day for Wellington. Never before, under any Government, has such a huge and single investment in the town been announced."
Councillor Carter said: "Securing almost £10 million to support the work we’re doing to regenerate Wellington town centre is fantastic news for the town. As a council, we’ve worked with local partners to do all the heavy lifting with this – writing the bid and submitting it – so it’s great to see our hard work pay off.
“The money means that we can continue to build on the work we’ve done to develop a thriving food court at Wellington Market, by bringing the wider market into council ownership, refurbishing and improving it so that it reaches its potential as a modern, thriving shopping and eating destination.
“With £350,000 already invested by the town and borough councils into The Orbit, our successful bid also means we can now work with the team there to fully restore it and create an exciting, vibrant new exhibition, arts and community events space.
“We’ve been given this money because we are determined to support the regeneration of our borough towns and our track record means that we are trusted to deliver on what we’ve set out. These are exciting times for Wellington, so watch this space.”
The plan for the market will "preserve existing traders and introduce new retail, cultural, arts, music, and leisure events".
The money for The Orbit will allow for new "multifunctional spaces created within upper floors" to host arts, cultural, office and community outreach support services.
The highways funds will allow for improvements to Market Street, Church Street and Market Square, with a focus on pedestrians and cyclists.
The project is one of 16 across the country sharing a total of £200m.
The Chancellor's Budget announcement stated: "These projects have been assessed as high quality and will commence delivery later this year. Investment has been targeted towards the left-behind places in the Levelling Up White Paper or projects that are under £10 million to ensure quick delivery and a good spread of funding across England."
