The Kirkby Neighbourhood Board met last week (Friday 27 June 2025) – a Board established as part of the Government’s Plan for Neighbourhood programme which has allocated £19.5m to Kirkby town centre to address local issues over the next 10 years.
The programme focusses on three long-term aims – to build thriving places, strengthen communities and empower people to taking back control instead of “sticking plaster” policies.
Kirkby is one of 75 towns to benefit from the funding. Each area will benefit from a Neighbourhood Board, bringing together residents, local businesses and grassroots campaigners to set a vision for the future of their community. Kirkby’s Neighbourhood Board is chaired by Max Steinberg CBE DL.
Last year, the Board organised a consultation – “Let’s talk about Kirkby” – from12 June until 3 July 2024 in order to inform the development of a Neighbourhood Plan for Kirkby. This consisted of 8 face-to-face events, 14 engagement sessions with community groups and online feedback. Over 600 responses were received – 400 through face-to-face sessions and a further 210 via the online form.
It is clear that there is a strong sense of pride and belonging in Kirkby and there is a strong desire to “keep things local” – local schools for local children, local businesses run by local people for local people and local services on the doorstep.
The key themes from the consultation included:-
- Retail, leisure and an evening economy
- Education, employment and skills
- Green spaces and how they are used for the wellbeing of residents
- Clean and safe streets, including well-maintained roads
- Regular updates to be shared by the Board
Max Steinberg CBE DL, Chair of the Kirkby Neighbourhood Board, said: “Due to a change in Government in July 2024, our plans had to pause whilst we awaited confirmation that the £19.5m funding allocated under the previous Government’s Long-Term Plan would still be available to Kirkby. It has and now (under the current Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods programme) and we will use the feedback we have already received from the local community to develop our Regeneration Plan for Kirkby, setting out a clear vision for the future and how that will be achieved over the next 10 years. The plan will focus on the local community’s key priorities within the available funding.
“Once this is developed, we will share it in the Autumn to seek feedback from communities in Kirkby. I fully appreciate that this is their local area and local residents must also have input and ownership of how the funding will be used.
“We had a very productive Board meeting today, with everyone committed and enthusiastic to deliver the very best for everyone who lives, visits or works in Kirkby.
“I look forward to now developing our plan for Kirkby and addressing the issues that are important to local people.”
The Regeneration Plan needs to be submitted to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government by 28 November 2025 and if approved, funding will be released from April 2026 to commence the delivery phase.