Leaders hoping to get nearly £36m in government cash to 'level up' two Tameside towns

Bids totalling nearly £36 million to ‘level up’ two Tameside towns will be submitted to the government next week.

Tameside council has put forward proposals that it hopes will be successful in obtaining money from the £4.8 billion Levelling Up fund for works in Stalybridge and Denton.

The council had previously been awarded nearly £20m from the fund for works in Ashton-under-Lyne, but a bid to improve Stalybridge was not successful.

Now the authority is aiming to be awarded £20m for Stalybridge town centre, and £15.5m for Denton town centre from the second round of funding.

The works in Stalybridge will consist of the provision of more car parking on brownfield land, and remediating brownfield sites for future residential development – to the tune of £9.2m.

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A further £8m would be spent on public realm improvements, including improved pedestrian and cycle routes and access to public transport.

Two of Stalybridge’s most prominent buildings, the Civic Hall and Astley Cheetham, would also benefit if the bid is successful, with £1.5m and £1.3m being spent on repairs works.

In Denton, the proposals centre around providing public realm improvements and better walking and cycling routes across the town centre, which would cost £12.5m.

Of the remaining pot, £2m would be spent on improvements to Festival Hall to allow relocation of further council services into the town centre, creating a ‘neighbourhood hub’. And £1m would go towards improving Denton Town Hall.

Councillor David Sweeton, executive member for business and employment told a meeting of the full council on Tuesday night that the authority would be