Kim Leadbeater MP: I promised to fight for funding for our local area and that is what I have done

Kim Leadbeater MP writes: Just over a month after I brought the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, to Batley the government announced that a £12m bid to regenerate the town had been successful.

I’m over the moon that Mr Gove was convinced by the plans he saw, which were drawn up by Kirklees Council and promoted by me in Parliament. It has been a lot of hard team work but when I was elected I promised to fight for funding for our local area and that is what I have done.

Batley, like other towns and villages across the constituency, has been starved of investment for decades. This project, involving a major redesign and part-pedestrianisation of Commercial Street and the area around Market Place, will bring real benefits to local businesses, shoppers, and residents. It’s not right that we had to compete against other areas of genuine need to secure so-called levelling up funding, and I’m bitterly disappointed that other very worthwhile projects across West Yorkshire were not successful. But this is very good news for Batley, and I’d like to thank everybody who has done so much hard work in designing the bid and all those who contributed their thoughts during the consultation process.

Combined with funds already committed by Kirklees Council, this will mean Batley will be more attractive and welcoming, as well as safer for everybody who comes into the town. Local organisations will have a better location for community events, and I hope shoppers will be encouraged to stay longer, visit a wider range of shops and businesses, and enjoy something to eat or drink.

I took the opportunity of the Secretary of State’s visit to make the case for other towns and villages including Heckmondwike, Cleckheaton, and Birstall and I will continue to press for the funds we need to breathe new life into all our high streets, town centres and villages across Batley and Spen.

Major investments like this can take time to implement, although I’ll be pushing for progress as quickly as possible. In the meantime there is still a lot to be done to support facilities and projects that can make a big difference locally.

For example, I’ve been campaigning hard for support for swimming pools and leisure centres so they can keep open despite the huge rise in heating costs.

They play a vital role in the health and wellbeing of individuals and of the

community itself and should receive the same help with their bills that other businesses get.