HUGE developments, including a £50 million regeneration of Odsal Stadium and the re-opening of Bingley Pool, are still in “limbo” as the Government has yet decide when funding bids will be announced.
Announcements of which “Levelling Up Fund” bids have been successful were originally due to be made in October.
But last year Government said this would be pushed back, eventually claiming the announcements would be made in early 2023.
When the Telegraph & Argus recently asked Government when the long awaited announcements would be made, a spokesman said it would be “in due course.”
The Levelling Up fund was proposed by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a way of boosting all areas of the country.
It would allow each constituency to bid for funding to carry out a major regeneration project.
Bradford Council and local MPs have teamed up to submit four bids to Government – for projects in Bradford South, Keighley, Bradford East and Shipley Constituencies.
A successful £20m bid for a new leisure facility at Squire Lane in Bradford West was approved in 2021 in the first round of bids.
The Bradford South bid was a £50m proposal to transform Odsal Stadium into the largest permanently covered stadium in the country, along with the creation of a new Rugby league skills centre, park and ride car park, sports pitches, hotel and solar farm.
The £20m Bradford East bid is to transform three community centres into wellbeing hubs.
The Keighley bid is a £20m scheme to unlock Brownfield sites for industrial development, make improvements to Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and create a new advanced robotics training centre.
And the Shipley bid for £14.4m would involve re-opening Bingley swimming pool, creating a modern leisure facility, and improving the town’s Market Square.
Bids were submitted last Summer, but since then the Government has seemed non-committal about when the successful bids would be announced.
When the Telegraph & Argus contacted the Department for Levelling Up for some clarity on when the announcements on the successful bids will be made, a spokesman said: “the successful bids will be announced in due course.”
Shipley MP Philip Davies was met with a similarly non-committal response when he asked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the Bingley bid, only to have the PM say he will be “following with close interest.”
Mr Davies said in Prime Minister’s Question Time: “Labour controlled Bradford Council continually neglect the needs of Bingley and other parts of my constituency as they pour all their money into the Labour inner city heartlands and therefore my constituents look to the government to put right their failings.
“Will the Prime Minister insist that the Levelling Up Fund for Bingley which has been submitted and will also unlock many millions of pounds of private sector investment, will be successful when the announcement is made in the near future?”
Mr Sunak replied: “Unlike the Labour Council my hon friend is a fantastic champion for his constituents in Bingley.
“As I have told him previously, I cannot comment on individual bids and but I wish him every success and will be following with close interest with how it proceeds.”
The Telegraph & Argus had asked Bradford Council whether the delay may have a knock on impact on the delivery of any successful schemes.
The authority had said the Odsal bid would “capitalise on the legacy which will be left by Bradford’s successful bid to become UK City of Culture in 2025.”
Leader of Bradford Council Susan Hinchcliffe said: “We are understandably eager to find out the outcomes of our funding bids, which total over £104 million and will have huge social, economic and cultural benefits for our district.
“Bradford District is also a significant Levelling Up opportunity for the Government and the funding they have could transform the lives, fortunes and wellbeing of thousands of people.
“We want to take the first steps to progress these projects, so not knowing yet whether we are going to receive the funding is frustrating and puts us in limbo.
“We also have the amazing potential of the City of Culture 2025 which will be a huge boost to our economy, but before we reach that point we need vital funding to build the necessary infrastructure.
“In terms of Odsal, this was always going to be too large a project to develop by 2025 but will be an important part of the City of Culture legacy if the Levelling Up bid is successful.”
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