Southport has the opportunity to bid for up to £50m of central Government funding as part of the Town Deal Fund, to boost economic growth and town wide regeneration. As part of the stakeholder engagement for the submission, a consultation exercise was undertaken to gather feedback on a number of Big Ideas that would inform a wider Vision for Southport.
Each of these Big Ideas included a number of project ideas that we thought had the potential to attract wider investment both from the Government and from the private sector. We asked what you thought of these Big Ideas and what you think we might have missed.
The Town Deal Board received over 2,033 completed questionnaires, with 826 detailed comments from the questionnaires. In addition to this, we received 40 emails, 5 phone calls and 4 letters.
Following the online consultation, the Town Deal Board also engaged with a number of other stakeholder groups including university students, college students school children, visitors and local business owners.
A summary of all the responses received can be found in this report.Southport Town Investment Plan Consultation Report
This engagement has informed the Town Investment Plan (TIP) which was submitted to government at the end of October 2020. Key points of influence from engagement include:
The priorities expressed by consultees that have not been included in the TIP will be addressed using funding and delivery routes other than Towns Fund.
The Town Deal Board will continue the conversation with residents, visitors and businesses as the Town Investment Plan progresses.
Creating places for people to lead healthy lives and addressing climate change are two of the biggest challenges that we currently face. Southport starts from a position of strength. The coast, the parks, gardens and green spaces in the town all contribute to making it a healthy place to live, work and visit. Opportunities for walking and cycling within the town also helps people to stay healthy and active.
The masterplan seeks to invest in these healthy living assets of the town, while planning ahead to make future developments environmentally sustainable and carbon neutral.
What you’ve already told us…
Big Ideas for Change
Our Big Ideas are described below:
1. Ensure major new housing and commercial developments within the town centre and Waterfront are designed to net zero carbon standard, to help the borough to transition to net zero carbon by 2030.
2. Use of public sector sites to generate energy, where appropriate, in line with the Sefton Climate Emergency Strategy.
3. Redesign of Lord Street to provide greater pedestrian and cycle priority, including:
4. Investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the town centre and as a feature of new car parking facilities
5. Development of modern interchange facilities that encourage greater use of sustainable forms of transport (including bus / train / pedestrian / cycle).
6. Provision of an electric shuttle bus (e-shuttle) linking the new interchange with the Waterfront attractions and Lord Stree
7. Secure funding for continued improvement and restoration of historic parks and gardens for future generations (e.g. Botanic Gardens, Hesketh Park)
8. Secure investment in the leisure assets at Ainsdale-on-Sea and facilities serving the coastal attractions
We will review all feedback received and use this to inform our bid for £25 million from the Towns Fund, which will be submitted to the Government later this year. This will be an ongoing conversation between residents, businesses, the Town Deal Board, Sefton Council and Government and there will be more opportunities to get involved.
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