Wrexham’s ‘levelling up’ bid for Gateway project set for second round

Wrexham Council look likely to be entering a second round with hopes of winning a £18.5m UK Government ‘levelling up’ bid for the high profile ‘Wrexham Gateway’ project as Wrexham’s MP questioned progress in Westminster.

£25 million has already been committed by the Welsh Government for the project, with recent hopes Wrexham would have been a winning constituency alongside Clwyd South – that was successful in a £13.3m bid to revitalise the area around the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

The Gateway bid was put forward as part of plans to transform the Mold Road area into the town, which could see a new 5,000+ seat stand built at the Kop end of Wrexham AFC’s Racecourse Ground. A four-star hotel, multi-storey car park and conferencing and hospitality facility have also been suggested as part of efforts to boost the infrastructure and economy.

Earlier this week Wrexham’s MP Sarah Atherton raised the issue of the Gateway funding bid with the Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, at Welsh Questions, “Wrexham was fortunate enough to win one of its two levelling-up fund bids, and Wrexham County Borough Council has committed to redefining the other bid and working with officials.

“Will the Secretary of State let me and the council know when round 2 of the levelling-up fund will be open for bids?”

The Secretary of State replied, “It will be open in the early part of next year.”

“Any local authority that was not successful in the first round will have a chance to discuss its bid with officials to see how the application can be nuanced to achieve success next year.”

We asked Wrexham Council what redefining the bid meant, and if WCBC had feedback from UK Government. No comment was available.

During the session the Secretary of State fired back at a ‘pork barrel politics’ criticism of the funding, with a claim from the SNP that it was ‘meddling in devolved areas’, he responded “For the first time, 22 local authorities in Wales and other stakeholders are having a say in devolution. The Welsh Government do not have a monopoly of wisdom any more than the UK Government do, and we are taking devolution to its dictionary definition. He will probably know this but, under the UK community renewal fund, Labour areas got 44% of the funding, Plaid Cymru areas got 24%, independent areas got 17% and Conservative areas were fourth at 15%.”

Later Llanelli MP Nia Griffith asked, “In the light of the Institute for Government’s recommendation that the UK Government should consult the Welsh Government at every stage on the shared prosperity fund, and bearing in mind the scathing report by the Public Accounts Committee on the allocation of the towns fund, what in-depth discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Welsh Government on the shared prosperity fund, and when can we expect more information?”

Simon Hart MP replied, “Aside from stressing that there is consultation on a range of these things, and I am hoping to meet the First Minister later this week to discuss them, I remind the hon. Lady that the Welsh Government are not the only game in town; we are engaging with more people, in more parts of Wales, than has ever been the case before, and the funding settlements reflect their priorities as much as anything else. I am astonished that she is not welcoming that.”

The Gateway was also discussed in the Senedd earlier this week – more here.