Earlestown in £20m levelling-up fund win

It was smiles all round recently as our Earlestown regeneration – being delivered by our JV with Legal and General and Homes England, The English Cities Fund (ECF), in a 20-year partnership with St Helens Borough Council – received a £20m boost, thanks to a successful levelling up fund bid by the council.

This funding injection will support plans to transform the historic market square, together with new public spaces, restore the Grade II-listed town hall back to its former glory and bring forward much-needed improvements at Earlestown train station.

The funding bid was backed by St Helens North MP Conor McGinn and was one of only two successful bids in the Liverpool City Region under the second round of levelling up funding.

Max Bentham, development director, said:

Welcoming the news, Councillor David Baines, Leader of St Helens Borough Council, said: “We’re delighted to receive this funding in support of our plans for Earlestown and I would like to thank council officers and Conor McGinn for their support for this vital and transformational plan. The project will revitalise this historic market town, facilitate the reopening of Earlestown Town Hall and support transport improvements at Earlestown Rail Station, which has the world’s oldest rail junction and station building still in passenger service.”

Conor McGinn, St Helens North MP, added: “It’s great news that our joint council-MP bid for St Helens North to the Levelling-up Fund round two has been successful. In securing £20m from the Levelling Up Fund for the regeneration of Earlestown, we’re on course to deliver the approved regeneration plans for the historic market square and reopen the town hall as a new hub.

“The approach we’ve taken as a team of political, business and community leaders is to be ambitious for the whole borough and every part of St Helens, and this good news for Newton-le-Willows alongside the continuing investment in St Helens town centre and local areas.”