Satvir Kaur has secured £20 million of government funding for people in Millbrook and Redbridge to invest in their communities.
As part of the Labour government’s new Pride in Place Programme, these areas will receive £2 million per year over the course of ten years, and will be pioneering a new way of deciding how to spend public money on local projects.
The money can be spent on anything from local park improvements to fixing up empty buildings and high streets, but it is up to the residents to decide what to do with it.
The fund relies on locals from across the Millbrook estate and Redbridge coming together to submit ideas for how to spend the £20 million total, and a call has gone out for people to volunteer to sit on a local board that helps coordinate the project.
Satvir Kaur MP, who campaigned for the funding, said: “It’s great to see this much needed investment of £20 million come to Southampton, something I have been campaigning hard for.
“We know that the Millbrook estate and Redbridge area represent neighbourhoods that are not only the most deprived in our city, but the UK. It is important they are supported, but that decisions on improvements are made with local communities and not just for them.
“I’m looking forward to working with local residents and businesses on how we spend this investment to help people feel more pride in the place they call home. Whether it’s to help tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, clean up our streets and parks, provide more facilities for our young people – speaking to local people I know they have lots of ideas and this Labour government is giving us the opportunity to decide for ourselves how we make the Millbrook estate and Redbridge a better place to live. I’m so excited to get started!”
Alongside the announcement to transform historically disadvantaged neighbourhoods with this £20 million boost, Southampton City Council will receive an additional £1.5 million in surge capital funding to liven up local high streets and speed up revitalisation of communities as part of the government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund.
Whilst the £20 million programme will target long-term investment within the communities that need it most, the government recognises that other places need immediate support to address issues that matter locally, and that is where the Impact Fund comes in.
Also, as a result of Satvir’s campaigning in Westminster, Southampton City Council will receive £1.5 million of Pride in Place capital funding over two years to enable immediate work to start. This money will be used to make sure that the places and spaces most valued by communities are improved, and that people can feel proud of their local areas once more.