£20m Stanley funding could be extended to Front Street

Stanley South, an area drawn up by the Department for Housing Communities and Local Government, is due to receive the £20 million in funding over a ten-year period starting in 2027 as part of the Government’s ‘Pride in Place’ scheme.

It does not cover Front Street yet, but after initial public meetings, there has been a suggestion that the incoming Pride in Place board might ask the Government to extend the boundary.

“The initial boundary we’ve been given is this Stanley South formulation,” North Durham MP Luke Akehurst told The Northern Echo.

Luke Akehurst and Baroness Hilary Armstrong. (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

“If we want to alter that then it would be the board that would need to take a decision to ask, and then it would be up to the Secretary of State to agree it, but I can’t imagine they would reject a reasonable request to alter the boundaries.”

Members of the public alongside sitting and former councillors met with Mr Akehurst and Baroness Hilary Armstrong at Beamish Football Centre in Stanley on Friday, March 6, to discuss where they would like to see the £20m spent, with conversations about sports, education, mental health and young people all taking place.

There are more meetings in the pipeline, but Mr Akehurst said there are ‘themes’ developing already.

A meeting to discuss the priorities for where the funding would be spent was held in Stanley on Friday. (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

“Across the two meetings there are certain themes that are already emerging around young people and crime and antisocial behaviour,” he said.

“There’s obviously a thing about the physical condition, not just of Front Street, but of the South Stanley woods and the mess they’re in, and there’s some bits about health and wellbeing.”

Stanley Front Street was thrust into the national spotlight in December 2024 after being branded one of the ‘ugliest’ parts of the country by The Telegraph, with residents agreeing there was a way to go for the town centre.

The area will receive £2 million every year to give them certainty when planning for the future, when it comes to high streets, parks and public spaces.

Local people will decide how funding is spent, and communities will gain new powers to seize boarded-up shops, block nuisance businesses, and buy local assets before they close.

Speaking when the funding was announced, Communities Secretary Steve Reed said: “Our high streets are the beating heart of Britain — where communities come together and local businesses can grow.

“Town centres have suffered from high streets falling into decline, and that is why we’re taking action to turn the tide with this crucial investment and more to come.

“We have listened to what people are telling us and that’s why we’re giving them the power and control to breathe new life back into our high streets and restore the sense of pride communities feel, building on our transformational Pride in Place programme.”

The Department for Housing Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.