MP View 27th October 2021
This week’s budget has brought good news across the country. And we have seen our fair share here in Wyre Forest. A recent bid for the levelling up fund, submitted by Wyre Forest District Council, but with the caveat that it has full support from me as the local MP, has been successful in securing up to £17.9 million for works in Kidderminster’s town centre, including fabulous modifications to the Town Hall. This is good news for our district’s main town. After all, the more appealing the town centre is, the more it attracts people and activity.
This comes hot on the heels of a number of other funding awards to our district.
Bewdley residents will be aware of the £6.1 million that we secured for a proper flood solution on the Wribbenhall side of the Severn, ending once and for all the nightmare of flooding. This comes after I brought the Prime Minister to Bewdley last year and work is under way to deliver the defences.
We also recently secured £20.5 million for Kidderminster under the Town Centre funding. Again, something I was pleased to work closely with the local council to secure. And we have also received £6million for a new diagnostic centre in Kidderminster Hospital. This health money comes on top of a programme of new medical centres for Kidderminster, Bewdley and, still under construction, Stourport.
However, our economy will be changing as we move towards a greener agenda. The ban on new internal combustion engines after 2030 signals a change for our region, known for its automotive sector. Electric motors and batteries employ far fewer people than the supply chain for traditional engines, so we need to find alternatives. The investment of £550,000 in Kidderminster College for a new automotive skills centre will prepare us well for the change.
But it is crucial is that we continue to see private investment follow this up.
Looking back on my campaign to be elected as Wyre Forest’s MP back in 2010, I used two obvious derelict sites as examples of what needed to be done – the old Romwire site, and the sugar beet site, both on the Stourport Road. The former is now the Specsavers factory, the latter is the new development with hundreds of houses, a new leisure centre and shops.
But investment is not a finite thing. It is dynamic and I will certainly never stop playing my part to secure more investment into our district.