MP Alison Hume column: have your say on 'skin in the game' Scarborough projects

I never miss an opportunity to champion our area when I’m speaking in Westminster.

For too long under the Conservative government, Scarborough was overlooked.

Last year, the town was one of 75 towns selected for £20 million of investment.

The Pride in Place Programme is this government’s flagship communities programme which empowers local people to shape the future of their neighbourhood.

Inspired by John Prescott’s New Deal for Communities, Pride in Place is supported by up to £5 billion in funding over 10 years and is designed to fix the foundations in hundreds of communities across the country, including ours in Scarborough.

The Scarborough Neighbourhood Board, working with North Yorkshire Council on co-ordination and delivery, has identified 11 local projects that could benefit from the money being provided.

Pride in Place is all about empowering local people to choose how to spend the money.

Sitting alongside wider initiatives focusing on safer streets, creating cleaner environments and building the homes and roads people need to thrive, Pride in Place is a national drive to pump major investment into areas ‘doubly disadvantaged’ by both the highest deprivation levels and weakest social infrastructure.

The Scarborough Neighbourhood Board, independently chaired by Heath Samples, brings together representatives from the public, private and voluntary sectors to help shape a long-term vision for the town and drive regeneration.

Building pride in the places we live, work and visit starts with people, not politics.

Local people don’t need government to tell them what will really benefit their communities or work best in their areas.

That’s why we’ve given those with real ‘skin in the game’ the chance to drive the renewal of places like Scarborough.

People like you. So please have your say.

A public consultation has now been launched, enabling residents to have their say on every one of them.

This can be found at - https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/your-council/consultations-and-engagement/current-consultations/pride-place-scarborough - with the feedback informing future decisions.