Prime Minister’s Town Tsar visits Skegness to put the pride back in communities

Adam, Deputy Director of the think tank Onward, was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as interim Chair for the new high-powered Towns Unit to ensure the voices of UK towns are heard loud and clear across government and that vital regeneration comes to life.

He will help deliver the government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns, backed by £1.5 billion overall, to regenerate 75 towns around the country so people can feel proud of the place they call home.

Skegness is one of those towns and will receive a 10-year endowment-style fund with £20 million of funding and support to deliver long-term projects focused on the issues that matter most to local people, including regenerating high streets, protecting local heritage and cracking down on anti-social behaviour.

Adam will be reporting directly back to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove on how places can better level up.

Before he met the ‘voices’ of Skegness to discuss how best to help people be proud to say they live here, Lincolnshire World caught up with him in Tower Gardens – where the Town Deal funding being spent there is already making visitors feel happier about their environment.

He said: “It’s an honour to be heading up this vital work, which will empower communities to transform their towns. The Long-Term Plan for Towns puts local people at the heart of change, letting them choose their own priorities. Whether that’s making high streets safer and cleaner, improving transport links or celebrating local heritage, we will help towns to rebuild a sense of pride.

"I’ve been seeing some of the great projects that have been funded by the £20 million that came for the Town Deal in the last couple of years and this project in Tower Gardens is an amazing use of green space and a heritage asset.

"This is a new £20 million investment and a little different as it is an endowment style fund, which means it is flexible money to be invested over 10 years by the community.

"So what we are asking is for the council to put together a town board with a range of different people from the civil society, from business, faith leaders and others to think about how to use that money.

"Importantly we want members of the public to come forward with their ideas – because no decisions have yet been made about how that money will be used – to make sure they will meet community priorities.”

Skegness Mayor Coun Pete Barry said he welcomed the visit. He said: “We have discussed in council our priorities to put forward as suggestions and these include getting the lights put back on overnight to make people safer, better CCTV and a sports field for athletics.”

• Adam is continuing his tour in Boston.