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 in the full 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.
Southport has historically been a prosperous place with low unemployment and deprivation levels, however its economy is very reliant on tourism and retailing. Both of these business sectors face challenges and need investment to ensure that the town can compete for customers and visitors in the future. The effects of Covid-19 on the town are not fully known, but it is already clear that unemployment is rising and there is a need to support existing businesses and deliver new jobs in a wider range of business sectors. In doing so, it will be important to provide the digital capabilities for businesses to succeed.
What you’ve already told us…
Big Ideas for Change
The masterplan proposes a series of projects which will help to build a local economy which is more resilient, diverse and which operates year round.
Our Big Ideas are described below:
1. Complete Southport Business Park including:
2. Major investment in The Southport Theatre and Convention Centre – critical to attracting more business conferences, entertainment events and the associated visitors and spend
3. Invest in an all-weather visitor attraction – critical to addressing the seasonal nature of the visitor market and ensuring that Southport competes effectively with other visitor destinations.
4. Develop a Creative and Digital Hub in the town centre – dedicated space for creative and digital businesses to support the growth of these important sectors.
5. Create Lord Street “northern quarter” co-working hub – providing flexible space for start-up and independent businesses in the town centre
6. Invest in Ainsdale-on-Sea Visitor Hub – develop a plan for investment in the leisure assets in Ainsdale-on-Sea to create an enhanced visitor experience including (but not limited to):
7. Develop “wrap around” job and contract match service – to ensure that local people and businesses can access the job and contract opportunities arising from major investments in the town
8. Digital project - Make Southport the most digitally connected coastal town in the UK. Create an integrated town centre digital network utilising WiFi, an App, way-finding, smart terminals and eKiosks connected with payment bands, which allow the wearer to shop in the towns retailers, open their hotel door and gain pre-booked entry to leisure activities and venues.
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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