Wisbech Market Place improvements scheme wins £200,000 funding from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

Wisbech and Fenland featured strongly in the first tranche of proposals to help Cambridgeshire’s historic market towns ‘get fit for the future’.

Mayor James Palmer won approval from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Board for Fenland’s Wisbech and Whittlesey and Huntingdonshire’s Ramsey, Huntingdon and St Ives to get funding for their development proposals.

Eleven market towns across the Combined Authority are in the process of bidding for shares in £13.1 million from the authority to help them build the future they want – with Fenland and Huntingdonshire towns first in line.

Backed by Mayor James Palmer, Wisbech’s proposal for £200,000 for Market Place Improvements to the appearance and facilities of the commercial and social “heart” of the ‘Capital of the Fens’, was approved at the board's meeting on Wednesday.

The idea is to enhance the Market Place as a trading area – to add to the economic success of the town centre and to make it better as a community space – where people can spend time, money and integrate as a community.

The rationale behind the initiative is to enrich this key area of Wisbech and build on the town’s vitality and vibrancy – providing social, environmental and economic benefits for those who live, work, visit or who are looking to invest in Wisbech.

Wisbech Councillor Andrew Lynn, who has led the project on behalf of the town council, said: "This vision is going to become a reality now, and with confirmation of this additional funding to make the project possible, the town council cannot wait to crack on with the work. Our next step will be to have further meetings with the civil engineers to undertake ground surveys."

The Board also approved Whittlesey’s application for £57,500 funding for interactive flooding signs - which will give vital alerts for westbound traffic going from Whittlesey to Peterborough. The funding will pay for the installation, maintenance, and management of three signs at key locations in Whittlesey.

The awards will be put to work immediately. Funds given must be spent at the latest by March 31 2022 - and deliverability remains a key factor in appraising project proposals

All proposals are asked to demonstrate how market towns can support Covid-19 recovery, reflecting new patterns of home working, use of public transport, active travel, the workplace, community space, and improvements on High Streets.

The Market Towns Programme means each town has an approved Masterplan, funded by the Combined Authority, that details its own priority projects, and the central part they can play in delivering against the target for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area to double its gross value added (GVA) over the next two decades.

Combined Authority investment – which could be up to a million pounds for the right market town proposal or mix of proposals - will mobilise Masterplan projects to drive targeted growth and regeneration and perhaps attract more funding, from government and the private sector.

Mayor Palmer said: “I’m delighted the first tranche of proposals has got the thumbs-up. This is about getting our unique market towns fit for the future. Historically neglected, they’re crucial to our whole region, both as communities and as social and economic hubs and the Combined Authority is committed to helping each one prosper, taking their surrounding communities forward with them.

“More people live in our market towns than in our cities. They are Cambridgeshire’s backbone – and they should be its powerhouse too. They’ve already got a fantastic history and I want them to have a fantastic future as well. That means investment and that’s what the Combined Authority is putting in, along with fighting tirelessly for the road and rail infrastructure that joins up, links in, and levels up.”

“It’s about turning dreams into reality. The Masterplans pinpoint what our towns say they need most and reveal huge opportunities for sustainable growth, better transport, improved accessibility and more skills training.

"I hope that each market town will secure a good slice of the funding and the Town teams and districts will partner ever more closely with the Mayoral Combined Authority to help create the towns these communities want for themselves.”