£5m of funding for cultural projects set to be discussed
Culture and tourism08 August 2024
North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive will discuss next steps following the allocation of £5m of capital funding from the previous government as part of the Spring Budget.
The funding from Government is for investment in cultural projects in the area and an investment plan has now been submitted to Government.
In April 2024, the council asked for interested projects to come forward and 25 projects were submitted from a range of businesses and organisations, with 10 projects being identified as suitable and, as such, included in the investment plan. These include projects at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering, Rothwell Market House, Desborough Heritage Centre, Sywell Country Park, Rushden Transport Heritage Society and Adrenaline Alley in Corby.
A full list of the projects and an overview of each can be found at Appendix A of the Executive report.
A decision on the award of funding is expected soon and NNC is now making the necessary arrangements to ensure that the council is ready to act and ensure the projects identified are delivered by the predicted end date of March 2026.
A report to the council’s Executive will now seek approval on various elements to help deliver the projects, including the setting up of panel of Councillors to oversee the programme, with support from the relevant Officers. It is also proposed that a small grant scheme is set up with input from officers, Executive Members alongside representatives from the University of Northampton and University of Leicester.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to submit their projects for consideration. We had such high-quality projects submitted for inclusion in the investment plan and the ones that have been included are of the highest quality and will have such an enormous benefit to the local economy, impacting communities throughout North Northants.Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council
We are expecting a decision from Government on whether our investment plan has been successful and need to be prepared for this decision. Therefore, it is vital that we start to think about the next steps and this report sets out some of those key tools we need to help deliver the plan - should it be approved.
This is a really exciting time for culture in North Northamptonshire. The £5m of funding we have been allocated will make a real difference to projects across the area, alongside our investment in the new tourism strategy for Northamptonshire. I am also delighted we have included £500,000 as part of the bid, to set up a small grants scheme to allow the smaller, local cultural groups we have here in North Northants to apply for funding, it is great that substantial funds can go to help large organisations but we must not forget the smaller groups who are generally run by dedicated volunteers.Cllr Helen Howell, the council’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Sport, Leisure, Culture and Tourism
The Executive will meet on Thursday 15 August at 10am at the Corby Cube and the papers are now available online. The meeting will be live streamed on YouTube.