Neston is one of the 17 market towns in the Northwest to be included in the Countryside Agency/North West Regional Development Agency Market Town Initiative programme. In Cheshire, there are 3 such towns, Neston, Frodsham and Sandbach.
The programme came to an end on 31 March 2008 although one of the projects, the Neston Resource Centre, has an extension of time for completion. Overall however, the Market Town Initiative's work is now complete, with just final accounting, evaluation and forward planning work to be completed over the next few months. The community regeneration work in Neston began by the MTI will be taken forward by the new community association (ch64inc) and by the establishment of a Town Council in 2009.
The town and its surrounding countryside underwent a 'healthcheck' between January and June 2003, which looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the area in environmental, economic and social terms. The 'healthcheck' included the town of Neston and the villages of Ness, Little Neston, Parkgate, Burton and Willaston. The 'healthcheck' was led by the borough council but involved many sections of the Neston community. Two major community events were held at the town hall and many local organisations and residents helped to provide much of the information. In addition a number of smaller events were held looking at specific issues. The 'healthcheck' produced an Action Plan which sets out how some of the issues identified in the healthcheck could be addressed.
In 2003, a local partnership ('New Neston Partnership') was established and a project manager appointed to help take forward the Action Plan. This was made possible through joint funding by the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council (EPNBC) and Cheshire County Council.
The partnership developed a three-year Business Plan and submitted funding bids to the NWDA and the Fairshare Trust for selected projects. Both bids were successful. The NWDA offered up to £1million funding towards a three-year programme of projects and £75,000 was secured from the Fairshare Trust towards the development of a Community Association for the Neston area.
EPNBC agreed to underwrite the match funding required by the NWDA for up to a maximum of £450,000 over three-years giving a total amount of funding of over £1.5 million for the area until March 2008. Each year, the Performance Plan Partnership sets out its predicted spending and performance targets for projects from the Business Plan in an annual approved by the NWDA.
Projects completed in 2006 and 2007 included new historic market town signs for Neston; the establishment of a delegated fund to make small grants available for local community groups and projects; grants for improvements to shopfronts in the town centre (see below); and the development of a new website. A town centre/visitor manager was appointed as part of the MTI and his role was to enhance joint working between the town centre businesses and to promote the town centre.
Projects for 2007/2008 included the construction of a new resource centre at the site of the former youth centre on Burton Road in Neston, support for town centre businesses, and a new curriculum for adult/lifelong learning.
A scheme to improve shop fronts in Neston was approved by NWDA in November 2006 with the hopethat the scheme would help to regenerate the town centre and create a more attractive streetscape in this historic conservation area. Many shop owners have taken advantage of this grant. For more information on the scheme, please click the link below:
Membership of the Partnership was open to anyone interested in furthering the aims and objectives of the Market Town Initiative. It was free to join and members received a copy of our Annual Report and can vote at all Partnership Special (SGM) and Annual General Meetings (AGM).
The 2007 and final AGM was held on Thursday 11 October in Neston Civic Hall.The meeting was chaired by Paul Davies, chairman of the Neston MTI. The meeting was well attended and reports were given by board members about MTI activity over the last 12 months including the resource centre, the new website and the shop front improvement scheme.
The New Neston Partnership was led by an executive board which included representatives of local councils, the business community, voluntary sector and young people and two representatives for local residents elected at the Partnership AGM. Minutes of the board meetings and the AGMs can be accessed by clicking below:
The chairman of the Neston Market Town Initiative Partnership is local businessman and Little Neston resident Paul Davies. He can be contacted at 9 Town Lane, Little Neston, Neston, Cheshire CH64 4DE or by email at paul@heretic-it.co.uk .
Ellesmere Port & Neston Borough Council was represented on the board by Councillors Judith Pugh and Nils Anderson and by Mike Worden (Planning Policy and Projects Unit Manager).
A full list of board members for 2008 can be seen by clicking the link below:
The Neston Market Town Initiative team is based in the MTI office to the rear of the Town Hall. For more information on the Market Town Initiative please contact Mike Hughes (Project Manager) on 0151 336 3991.
Further information:
