Independent council members are reportedly not being informed about the multimillion-pound revitalization plans that will change Earlestown. This has caused them to express concerns.
The ancient market square and main street of Earlestown have been slowly deteriorating, so the £20 million that the Levelling Up Fund has provided is seen as a lifeline to help the town get back on its feet.
Many merchants believe that the multi-million-pound project, which will revitalise the town’s market square, repair Earlestown Town Hall, and significantly upgrade the nearby train station, can’t arrive soon enough.
Independent council members, however, claim they have not received answers to their inquiries for months, which has led to a “wall of silence” and increased frustration.
Between November and December of last year, St Helens Council and the English Cities Fund, its regeneration partner, conducted a series of surveys across Earlestown to get input on the proposals.
An official planning application is being developed using the input provided, but independent councillors from Earlestown are growing increasingly anxious, claiming that since November, additional questions they have made have gone unanswered.
The council members continued, These frustrations have gotten worse because they frequently hear updates about the developments on social media.
When Councillor Collier and I were elected to represent the Newton-le-Willows West Ward, which contains the Earlestown regeneration project, we believed that we would be well informed of progress and that we would be given updated information to enable us to answer residents’ and businesses’ inquiries,” said Terry Maguire, an independent councillor for Newton-le-Willows West.
Sadly, this is not always the case, and we frequently wait for council members from wards other than our own to make social media posts.
We are as excited as the majority of the town’s residents about the potential for a recently renovated town centre and market.
We don’t have any information on the future steps, though, except from the evident external construction on the town hall.
We’ve encountered a “wall of silence.” Neither the English Cities Fund nor council officials have responded to our repeated inquiries concerning the proposal over the past month.
The residents of our town elected us to represent them and to provide updates on all current events in our town, so we think it is quite impolite to not receive a response and to not engage the ward council members.
We were assured that reserved matters planning would be submitted by the end of 2023, but after the second round of consultations in November, we have received no word. This has not occurred and has not happened.
Cllr Maguire clarified that he had concerns about parking options, the position of new market restrooms, whether or not contractors had been contracted, and the start date of the proposed renovations, given that Earlestown is about to undergo a significant transformation.
Cllr Maguire expressed worries that these questions are not being addressed when there is a fixed time constraint on the cash, given that the Levelling Up Fund wants the entire £20 million to be spent by the end of March of next year.
In addition, he questioned why the asbestos survey, scheduled for Earlestown Town Hall, wasn’t done during the previous year’s exterior renovations.
Cllr Maguire went on to explain the issue from his point of view, saying, “It appears that we are at a point where we are not receiving any fresh information, and our emails are being ignored.
“One of the main reasons Newton has independent council members is because of a lack of openness. If we keep keeping the public out of the council, how can we hope that they will see it favourably?
“Businesses are barely surviving when you stroll around our town, as we frequently do, and talk to them. Wilkos’s closing has caused them to lose customers, and the markets aren’t receiving enough assistance to prosper.
As traders are beginning to lose hope and some have already given up and left town, we need some clarity and to foster some fresh optimism.
This is not what we want. With the instability we seem to be experiencing right now, we want to encourage businesses to come and to commit to our town.
The plans, an updated timeline, a construction schedule, and the start of the market and street work are all necessary to provide the necessary motivation to the businesses and citizens.
The vision, the pictures and the promises are great but why have we suddenly come to a stop and emails being ignored, and if there is a problem, to let the public know.
A representative for ECF and St. Helens Borough Council addressed the concerns raised by the independent councillor, saying:
In December 2023, the council’s Planning Department received the first of the applications required for the market-led revitalization of Earlestown. Six public consultation sessions were conducted in late November and early December, all of which contributed to the development of the detailed planning application that will be submitted shortly.
A great deal of work is being done behind the scenes on this extensive regeneration effort.
The project team is getting ready for the delivery phase to start. Countless surveys and investigation works are being conducted in the Town Hall, and design and contractor procurement works are ongoing.
