Cllr Tony Harris, Mayor of St Ives, and Cllr Kirsty Arthur, Deputy Mayor and Towns Deal Board Member, welcomed the submission of the Town Investment Plan to Government as marking the beginning of an exciting new era for the town. The plan will see investment in a broad range of capital projects which will make a real difference to our communities.
They commented in a joint statement:
“All too often St Ives is seen only as an idyllic seaside town and now, will have the eyes of the world upon us during the G7 summit. But St Ives is much more. It has ambition and aspiration but has rarely been a priority for infrastructure investment. It is a close knit community but also an area with high levels of child poverty where many of our young people have seasonal jobs but have to leave if they want careers. This plan recognises the need to help St Ives recover from the pandemic, as being especially hard-hit due to our reliance on tourism and hospitality.
Projects will bring greener spaces, healthier transport links, support for small businesses, ways to improve our digital capability, community housing, investment in live music and the arts and more facilities for the young. All this on top of the initial award for a state-of-the-art skateboard park at Penbeagle and the Smeaton’s Pier project in support of our fishing community in St Ives.
There are limits on the fund and it can’t do everything but it’s exciting news amidst challenging times.
We add our own thanks to all those who have worked so hard over the last year to develop the plan and look forward to a positive response from the Government.