Leigh Town Board

The government has provided £20 million in funding to be spent on the regeneration of Leigh town centre over the next 10 years.

Leigh Town Board will oversee the development and delivery of this plan.

Leigh Town Board will be chaired by a businessperson or a local community leader, to ensure that the board fully reflects the priorities of the town and to make sure the priorities within the plan are underpinned by a shared vision with local people.

• Develop a Long-Term Plan to invest in and regenerate their town, based on the priorities of local people, and put to local people for consultation.
• Receive £20 million in endowment-style funding and support over ten years to support the Town Plan, to be spent on issues that matter to local people, including regenerating high streets and securing public safety. This plan will be put to local people.
• Establish a Town Board to bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP to oversee and deliver the Long-Term Plan.
• Use a toolkit of powers, from tackling anti-social behaviour to auctioning empty high street shops, reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants and supporting more housing in town centres.

• Community partners. Such as community groups, faith groups and local charities, the neighbourhood forum, and the local Council for Voluntary Service (CVS).
• Local businesses and social enterprises. Such as the chair or board members for the Business Improvement District (BID), key local employers or investors in the town.
• Key cultural, arts, heritage and sporting organisations.
• Public sector agencies such as representatives from schools or police subject to local priorities.
• The local MP, relevant local authorities, including the parish or town council, where one exists, and a representative of the Mayoral, Combined or Upper Tier Authority where relevant.

• Karen Cox, Manager of Spinning Gate Shopping Centre - Interim Chair
• Adele Adjetey - Senior Policy and Partnerships Officer (representing Kate Green, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester and Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner)
• Councillor Dane Anderton - Wigan Council, Cabinet Member Police, Crime and Civil Contingencies
• Derek Beaumont - Leigh Leopards, Owner
• Dorothy Bowker - The Bridge at Leigh, Founder and Trustee
• Alex Grundy - Café Stella, Owner
• TBC - Leigh MP
• Lloyd Jolley - WJ Structures Ltd, Director
• Councillor Yvonne Kileve - Wigan Council Lead Member, Town and District Centres and Night Time
• Senior Representative - Greater Manchester Police
• David Proctor (Deputy Chair) - Wigan Council, Assistant Director Planning and Regeneration
• Alison Rushton - Wigan and Leigh College, Vice Principal
• Steven Tomlinson - Nemiah and Leigh Means Business, Director

• Auctioning empty high street shops using new powers from the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
• Reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants, for example, enables more high-street businesses to benefit from the al-fresco dining rules introduced in the pandemic.
• Making it easier for commercial buildings to quickly change use, for example, allowing an empty shop to change into a café, nursery or gym without needing to fill out needless red tape.
• Supporting more housing in town centres by giving the automatic right for empty commercial buildings to be converted into homes for local people.
• On-the-spot fines of up to £1,000 for fly-tipping offenders and £500 for litter and graffiti offenders.
• Enforcing against persistent anti-social behaviour in public spaces like local parks and high streets – and fining those who breach these rules up to £500.

The UK government has provided £20 million in funding to be spent on the regeneration of Leigh town centre over the next 10 years.

• Identifying the issues and priorities to focus on for the Long-Term Plan, including supporting a process of ongoing community engagement.
• Working with the local authority to develop the Long-Term Plan for their town, setting out how local partners will use their knowledge, powers, assets and new funding to deliver for their communities
• Identifying opportunities for Board members to utilise specific powers, such as neighbourhood planning, to drive forward their Long-Term Plan.
• Identifying opportunities to bring in additional philanthropic or private investment to support the Long-Term Plan for their town.
• Overseeing the delivery of projects set out in their Long-Term Plan.

Yes - the board will be a separate entity from Wigan Council. The local authority will act as facilitators and the main delivery partner. However, when it comes to decision-making for the regeneration of Leigh town centre, this will be done by Leigh Town Board.

Capacity funding has been available from Spring 2024 and Leigh’s long-term plan should be produced no later than Summer 2024.

An announcement was made on 21st March by Wigan Council declaring that the board has been formed.

Leigh Central Forum does not currently have representation on the board. If you are a local business owner, you can get involved through Leigh Means Business.