Exmouth: What happened to the Levelling Up Fund bid? | Opinion

A bid from Devon County Council, originally written and conceived by EDDC, to secure funding from the government's all-singing, all-dancing 'Levelling Up Fund' was submitted earlier this year - East Devon was told it lay in the third priority group with hundreds of councils ahead of us in the pecking order.

We still await news. No date has been given as to when the results of this bid will be announced. A reminder that, if this bid is not successful, Exmouth will not get the Dinan Way extension it had already secured (it's effectively having to bid again from a different pot of money - the old pot disappeared into thin air).

Despite extensive pressure from local councillors, our MP Simon Jupp will not only have failed to deliver Exmouth's 'millions'....we will effectively have lost multi-million pound funding.

I hope this isn't the outcome and desperately hope that Mr Jupp has done some sterling work behind the scenes to secure this important funding - hand on heart, I will be the first to congratulate him if he pulls it off, and I have faith that he'll have given his best in his endeavours.

A successful bid will be good news for him and some vindication for the continuing pressure myself and local residents have placed upon him. If unsuccessful....well, it doesn't bear thinking about. As for when we may hear, there is no official time frame.

Presumably, the Conservatives in Westminster will announce it suddenly, on a day when things look bleak for the country, a good day for a cheery, sparkly morale boosting story to perk up the great unwashed.

Unfortunately, the Magnolia Centre, where I'd love this money to be going, remains in private ownership and as things stand it's not DCC or EDDC's to renovate. So at some point, the town will need to let the owners know how we feel. More on that in a future column.

For now, stay safe and happy.

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Ed: Nub News is politically impartial and does not endorse views expressed in opinion pieces.

SEE ALSO:

Exmouth Levelling Up Fund bid: 'We await the government's decision' - Simon Jupp MP

UPDATE: Levelling Up Fund bid now approved for completion of Dinan Way ring road, town centre improvements