Margate Town Deal Blog: a progress update
Blog post from Cllr Ruth Duckworth, Margate Town Deal Board Member and Cabinet Member for Estates and Economic Development.
“The submission of our Town Investment Plan (TIP) to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in December, whilst a significant milestone, does not signify the end of this process.
“For those of you not familiar with the TIP, it is an ambitious ten-year plan identifying over £25m of investments that would be a huge boost for Margate – unlocking jobs and future investment as well as creating opportunities for more people. This is more important than ever as the town looks to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. I would encourage those who haven’t seen it to watch our summary video and, of course, the full Plan is available to read online. You can also read feedback, suggestions and ideas from the community which helped to shape our Plan to drive economic regeneration.
“We would all like an early agreement of Heads of Terms (the mechanism through which the government will signify which projects it would like to see further developed) but realistically we are not expecting to hear back until mid March. The TIP needs to be assessed by a Panel comprising of officials from the Towns Hub (i.e. Policy, Project Management, Finance and Area Teams), different government departments and others including economists and finance specialists.
“Whilst we wait to hear if the Bid includes projects that the Government thinks will deliver its “levelling up” agenda, the momentum continues. The next Board meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 10 February. Key partners and stakeholders have been invited to regroup meetings with the project team to help shape thinking about practical delivery and business case development. We will also be reconvening the People’s Panel, and ensuring that those attending the meetings continue to be representative of the wider community of Margate.
“Many of you are asking, if Heads of Terms are agreed with the Government, how long will we have to complete business cases for selected projects and the answer is 12 months. Responses to other frequently asked questions can be found online. As ever, if you need to contact the Margate Town Deal project team, you can email margate-town-deal@thanet.gov.uk
“We hope to provide a more meaningful update with specific timeframes and actions once we hear back from the government. In the meantime, we look forward to picking back up conversations with the community of Margate. We remain optimistic that our Bid is strong and will help create a catalyst for future inward investment into the area.”