New funding to help with leisure and travel issues in Whittlesey and Wisbech
Works will include improvements to a swimming pool and a relief road project
New funding is on the cards to boost leisure and travel in two towns near Peterborough.
The Combined Authority has approved funding to support business, leisure and community facilities in the region’s market towns - including Whittlesey and Wisbech.
The Market Towns Programme aims to invest back into high streets, community buildings and outside spaces “to support a sustainable future for these historic towns”.
In Whittlesey, the programme’s work to install solar PV panels at Manor Leisure Centre has come in £45,000 under budget. The Combined Authority has therefore approved the use of these savings to provide new pool covers and a new heat exchanger at the leisure centre to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.
A further £12,000 of the underspend will support the Whittlesey Southern Relief Road project, also within the Market Towns programme, which is aimed at reducing congestion.
At Wisbech Park, funding has also been approved for the installation of a permanent electricity supply “to support community events, festivals and other outdoor activities”.
A spokesperson for the Combined Authority explained: “As well as supporting existing events in the calendar, the upgrade will encourage more events for recreation, sport, youth work activities and health and wellbeing. The funding was made available after another scheme, Shop Watch Radio, was no longer able to proceed.”
The Combined Authority’s Investment Committee was updated on the funding approvals at its meeting on Monday (March 10).
Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “Our market towns are rich in culture and heritage and are a vital part of what makes Cambridgeshire and Peterborough special. Our Market Towns programme is a multi-million-pound commitment to ensuring they can prosper into the future, with improved facilities, better infrastructure, and stronger local economies. These latest investments will make a real difference.”