Waltham Forest’s Labour Council was the most successful London borough in the second round of Levelling Up with £31 million secured for projects in Walthamstow and Leyton.
£14 million of the money will be used to improve accessibility at Leyton Station. We believe that active travel plans are only effective when they work for every resident in our borough and this money be spent on lifts and a bridge to create step-free access from street to platform level, as well as a new ticket hall and entrance. Waltham Forest Labour has been requesting funding for this work for many years and we are pleased the work can finally take place.
Our £17 million bid for Walthamstow Town Centre has also been successful. This brings significant funding towards improvements across the High Street, Hoe Street and St James Street areas and the restoration and creation of cultural hubs, including at Hatherley Mews.
Grace Williams, Leader of Waltham Forest Council says
“When we were the first borough to be the Borough of Culture in 2019, we knew that the legacy would be something to invest in and encourage. This funding only reinforces the recognition of our borough as at the forefront of culture in London. The £17 million awarded will make Walthamstow at the heart of our vision for culture and will encourage thousands of people to visit our borough every year to enjoy the cultural activities that we have on offer.
However, we are really disappointed that we did not receive funding for two excellent projects in Chingford and Leyton. Whilst we are delighted to have been awarded the money for two the projects, it is clear that the Government’s Levelling Up project is flawed and unfair and cannot replace the essential funding we have lost to support residents. The £31 million given to us by the Conservative government is very little compared to the £120 million we have lost in funding over the past 13 years. Only Labour has a plan to properly ‘level up’ our borough and our country, and we will continue to say this despite being awarded funding ourselves.”