George Eustice, Member of Parliament for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle has welcomed the news that Redruth will receive up to £4.6million in funding as part of the Heritage High Street Fund.
As part of the High Streets Heritage Action Zones (HSHAZ) fund, Redruth is to receive a share of the £95 million as one of only 10 places in the South West to benefit from this national scheme. It follows a bid submitted by Cornwall Council in partnership with the Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) Project Board.
The grant of £1,689,063, awarded by Historic England, will attract a further £3 million of investment from the private and public sectors. Commitments already secured will see:
- Derelict and underused buildings in the town centre revitalised
- Public realm and access improvements
- A programme of events and activities focused on and led by young people
- The launch of Alma Place by Redruth Town Council as a library and gateway to the town for residents, businesses and visitors.
Our local towns were once at the heart of the industrial revolution and our expertise in mining engineering was second to none. Over the years, with the loss of mining our fortunes waned and all too often the political attention was on big northern cities, but now we have an opportunity to reset this imbalance and deliver the economic regeneration that our towns and communities need.
The aim of the investment is to be a catalyst for improving the prosperity of the town centre so that it can continue to serve the local community and businesses, adapting to the challenges that all high streets were experiencing, even before Covid-19.
George commented, "The news that Redruth will be receiving up to £4.6million in funding as part of the Heritage High Streets Fund is most welcome. The fund can help spread the regeneration that has been started with the opening of Kresen Kernow. Projects like Krowji and the work around the Butter Market shows just what is possible with some imagination, passion and local leadership and we now have funds to help facilitate further work. I would also like to thank Cllr Barbara Ellenbroek for all her work as Chair of Redruth HSHAZ that she has undertaken to improve this great town."
Cllr Barbara Ellenbroek, Chair of Redruth HSHAZ Project Board, “I am delighted to hear that Cornwall Council’s bid to the High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme for Redruth has been successful and that this will help Redruth to build on both its exceptional historic townscape and the success of recent investment in creating Kresen Kernow on the former Redruth brewery site.
“As a former member of the Town Vitality Inquiry at Cornwall Council, which sought to find ways the council could work with Cornish towns to make them fit for the 21th century, it has become increasingly apparent that we need to look at assets other than retail in order to promote and support our town centres. I feel that Redruth, with its ambitious and committed Town Council, Cornwall Councillors, local businesses and local residents, who already do so much to promote it, has a very real opportunity now to act as a template for other towns to follow, building on their own distinctiveness. Redruth HSHAZ will give both employment and hope in a town that wants to be great again.”
