Government has announced today, 19 January, that Dorset Council has been successful in securing £19.5 million of Levelling Up funding, intended for investment in Weymouth.
Dorset Council submitted an ambitious bid to the second round of the government’s Levelling Up Fund last summer, with the aim of regenerating Weymouth’s waterfront economy. The council will support the government’s investment by making a financial contribution of £3.5m to project costs, making a total of £23m of investment.
You can see details of the bid here Round Two Levelling Up bid submission Jan 2023
Cllr Tony Ferrari, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Property, Assets and Regeneration said:
“To be successful in this second round of funding is great news for Weymouth and shows that it is not ‘a forgotten town’. Our bid was ambitious and robust and our continuous lobbying to government has paid off. This fabulous sum of money will significantly help towards regenerating Weymouth.
“In anticipation of this funding announcement, officers have been working on a revised planning application to demolish North Quay. Today’s announcement will allow us to quickly present this application and to do the required enabling works to bring this site forward as a prime waterfront location, should we get the necessary planning consent.
“The £19m allows us to put essential infrastructure in place to attract private sector investment which in turn will lead to new homes being built, increased employment and a more prosperous town.
“We’ll now also be able to accelerate the programmed harbour wall maintenance work which will allow regeneration to happen by making Weymouth a sustainable seaside town with robust flood defences, which in turn will attract private investment.”
Detail of the successful bid
Not everything that formed the first round of bids was included in round two. The successful waterside regeneration bid focusses on three sites in the town centre – the Peninsula, North Quay, and the town centre.
The main focus of the work outlined in the bid includes:
- Installation of utility infrastructure and repairs to the harbour walls at the Peninsula and North Quay which will allow proposals from private investors for new residential, commercial and leisure to be invited.
- The business case for the Harbour wall repairs is based on bringing work forward by 10 years, so redevelopment can happen sooner.
- Land assembly in the town centre, which involves purchasing long leasehold interests as we did last year for Weymouth Bowl. This will help generate fresh development opportunities and regain management of the land that the council already owns.
Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, said:
“I am delighted at this news. Weymouth has long languished at the bottom of the list for funding. The town has so much to offer and £19m in levelling up funds will go a long way towards the waterfront regeneration plans. I would like to congratulate Matt Prosser and the council officials and others who have worked so long and so hard on this bid.”
Council officers met with civil servants from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy earlier today, to discuss the next steps and to agree a rough timescale. Projections suggest the council and government will be in a position to agree a contract for delivery of the projects in the spring.
Cllr Ferrari continued:
“Levelling Up funding is just one of several big sums of money we are lobbying government for. This funding will help us tackle deprivation and regenerate the town’s economy. We can now deliver transformational change by repurposing the high street and expanding leisure and recreational facilities in the town, which we know is important to local people.
“We are committed to working with partners and stakeholders to deliver our aspirations, and make Weymouth a great place to live, work and visit.”
Read the bid in full here Round Two Levelling Up bid submission Jan 2023
In what ways will this help alleviate the high levels of poverty and homelessness in Weymouth and Portland? Will all the houses be social housing?
There will likely be a requirement for a percentage of any housing that is built as part of this funding, to be social and affordable housing, although we’re a long way off that stage right now, probably years rather than months. The idea is that once we can market the sites for sale to developers, the construction will bring in new jobs to the area, new homes and a revitalised economy for the town. Thanks, Kirstie
Property developers have a habit of being able to circumvent the requirement to build social and affordable housing in their project, we have one example already in Crossways. Surely from Dorset Council’s point of view, they need to reduce homelessness and allow local people the “luxury” of being able to get onto the housing ladder. Surely there are already enough executive developments going on the area ?
Any money for rural transport in Dorset? Bus services are non-existant around here.
Sadly, not in this round of funding. We lobby Gov consistently to give Dorset a fairer funding deal and we do bid for different pots of money continuously. We will keep bidding for funding to improve services like rural transport. Kirstie
So many clichés. What does any of this actually mean? Practical terms?
It means that the council can now afford to do critical ground works, like making sure things like roads and new utilities are in place, without which we couldn’t market the sites for development. Once the ground works are complete, the sites can then be marketed as high quality development sites to developers and investors, bringing jobs, new homes and a revitalised economy. The council will hopefully also receive some income on the sale of these sites, which can be ploughed back into much needed essential services for Dorset’s residents. None of this will happen overnight though, we’re waiting to hear from Gov on the time scales that they want to see us work to, likely to be years rather than months. Hope this makes sense, Kirstie
Well done on the successful bid. But I understood that the whole point of CIL was for developers to fund infrastructure improvements to accompany their developments. If the Council funds these upfront, you are basically subsidising their profits with Council tax payers’ money.
I’d like to see the pavements swept and maintained, there is a shortage of street cleaners and they are in a terrible state of repair with many loose gullies, weeds and rubbish everywhere. Especially round the station where there is a shortage of bins.
I’d also like an indoor water park built behind the pavilion on the waste ground or in Brewers Quay, to attract all weather visitors. There is very little in the town to keep people amused when it’s raining.
Not sure Brewers Quay would be suitable for a indoor water park there are still residents living there, agree water park would be good but should be away from residential places with a free bus service.
cant wait to see plans of the development on the the harbour where the eyesore of the old council office is, would be interested in moving closer to harbour
Considerable thought and public consultation surely will need to go into the final plans. I’m concerned about parking on the peninsula. If large swathes of the existing parking is taken up by buildings of any kind, where on earth are the tourists (a significant income stream for Weymouth) going to go in the busier months?. It is rare to even find a parking space at any time during the season and when there are popular shows on at the pavilion. And please don’t just push the problem away to the park and rides. A great many people cannot use them because of buggies or prams or luggage or because they are disabled and use wheelchairs or scooters or walkers.
When you demolish the horrible council office building on North Quay please will you replace it with a terrace of apartments exactly like “Harbour Lights” which replaced the old fire station.
I think that facade is BEAUTIFUL and totally in keeping with the period style of architecture of the harbourside.
Congratulations to the Council for getting that right!
Please can you share a link to the actual application made for the levelling up money. I have been told that it should be in the public domain but I can’t find it.
Dear Cllr Toft, the bid details have been added to this news article. https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/2023/01/19/dorset-council-awarded-19-5m-to-level-up-weymouth/
Best wishes
Kirstie