At the heart of the Levelling Up agenda is the desire to see areas like Ashbourne, which isn’t a large City or Town, afforded the same opportunities as areas that traditionally have seen higher levels of investment. When areas like Ashbourne benefit from Levelling Up, the whole of Derbyshire Dales benefits too, and our local economy has the opportunity to grow.
Being awarded this funding for Ashbourne Reborn means new or improved roads and crossings, parking, walkways, civic, cultural and community spaces, more trees, better digital connections, a mobility hub, retail and office space, more volunteering opportunities and heritage assets restored. It is a vision that residents of Ashbourne have created and now, thanks to a huge amount of hard work it will become a reality.
There are so many people to thank for our success in securing this funding; The Town Team, AshCom, the Town Council, Friends of Ashbourne Park, Ashbourne Methodist Church, District Councillors, County Councillors, the District Council and Central Government and so many others. The fact we have received this funding is down to the hard work of everyone involved and is an inspirational example of what can be achieved when people work together. On Thursday I invited local stakeholders who had worked on the bid to the Ashbourne Pavilion to celebrate and to discuss the future. I chose the Pavilion as the venue as another great example of what this community can achieve when we work together.
Our success in this round of funding is down to the fact that the application ticked every box. Every part of the submission had been thought about and worked on by multiple organisations and was truly deserving of support. As an MP, I had to endorse a submission and I was delighted to choose this application. I made sure that I played my part in Parliament too, telling everyone that would listen why this bid should be successful. I met with Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison to talk about the bid recently and she agreed it sounded fantastic.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight that the campaign for the Ashbourne Relief Road continues and I am assured by the County Council that progress is being made. I met the Chancellor of the Exchequer only last week to make the case for the urgent need for a bypass and I will continue working on this until we are successful.
The hard work in Ashbourne is only just beginning and I look forward to seeing the Ashbourne Reborn project develop and grow. It is absolutely vital that we hit the ground running and I know that everyone involved will ensure that the next steps happen as soon as possible. Once again, thank you to everyone who has made this bid a success.
