Hunt on for new chairman to help guide £20m community scheme in Fleetwood

The hunt is on for an experienced community figure who can help to guide a decade-long £20 million regeneration fund for Fleetwood.

The town – one of two areas on the Fylde coast to benefit from the government’s expanded Pride in Place programme – will receive £2million for the next ten years to revive its public spaces, high street and community assets.

A key part of this scheme – hailed as one of the biggest Fleetwood projects for decades – is the fact that local people will help decide how the money is spent, with a neighbourhood board of residents to be set up

Now, with the money in place and ideas already coming in from residents, a call out has been made for a chairman of the neighbourhood to come forward to over the initiative.

Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, Lorraine Beavers,who announced the funding last month, put the call out on Friday for potential candidates to contact her by email.

But the deadline is fast approaching. Candidates must have their name in the ring by 9am on Monday, November 17.

Ms Beavers said: “We are currently looking fo a chair of the neighbourhood board who will oversee community consultation for the £20 million funding we are receiving from the Government for Fleetwood town centre.

“If it sounds like a job for you, please send a 250-word expression of interest to my email address below by 9am on November 17, explaining why you’d love the role.

“Interviews will be carried out on November 20 via video call.Upon submitting, you will receive more detailed information on the Pride in Fleetwood (Pride in Place) scheme and the role of the neighbourhood board.

“But the way this project is run really is up to the chair, so there’s a huge opportunity to be creative with this. I understand this timeline is tight, but putting a chair in place is the first step towards delivering for Fleetwood, establishing a neighbourhood board that can get the wide-ranging and detailed community consultation underway”

Ms Beavers said the chair of the board must:

• Live or work in Fleetwood.

• Have a strong understanding of the challenges our community face.

• Demonstrate a commitment to championing community voices.

• Be experienced in working with a board to deliver strategic goals.The chair of the board will preferably have:

• Experience of working collaboratively with local people, community representatives, businesses, organisations, and local authorities.

• An understanding of co-production/co-design, and a strong commitment to prioritising community voices.

• Established relationships with Fleetwood-based community members, organisations, businesses, charities & community representatives.

• Demonstrable experience of applying for and/or combining funding from private, public, & philanthropic funding streams.

Potential candidates must send in their applications to the MP at: Lorraine.beavers.mp@parliament.uk