THE Forest Council is set to receive £1 million from the government to invest in communities and businesses over the next three years. 

The council’s proposal for funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was approved last week, following engagement with stakeholders to identify projects which meet the fund’s priorities. 

The first two years’ priorities are ‘communities and place’, and ‘local business’, and the third is ‘people and skills’. 

In April 2022, the council engaged with various stakeholders across the district to identify projects that meet the fund's priorities, which resulted in the creation of a submission containing ten different projects to be delivered in year one, including:

  • Survey work to prepare to improve town centre public toilet facilities - looking at accessibility, dementia friendly and security issues.  
  • Supporting the tourism association to improve their website and increase their customer base.
  • Supporting the administration of the Forest Economic Partnership.
  • Feasibility work to design new cycling and walking routes within the Forest.
  • Developing proposals to regenerate Coleford’s historic town centre.
  • Creating a user-friendly toolkit to help Forest businesses to tackle the climate emergency.
  • Creating a new digital platform to connect local businesses and help them share resources and ideas.
  • Research and community engagement to further explore the pathway to UNESCO biosphere designation for the Forest of Dean. 

Cabinet member for the economy, Cllr Bernie O’Neill, said, “Hearing that our proposal was approved for funding by the government is a fantastic way for the Forest of Dean to begin the year.

"The funding was only announced in April and, thanks to the hard work of our staff, we were able to meet with stakeholders, create a plan and submit it by July.”

“Now that we have had our plan approved, we’ll be able to get underway delivering the first-year projects.

"They’ll provide residents across the Forest with improved facilities and more active travel routes.

"All the while providing proactive solutions to the climate emergency and supporting our local businesses.”

“Supporting our community, businesses and environment is the very essence of what we do as a council.

"I look forward to watching these projects be delivered in the coming months, and seeing the impact they have.”

The council says if the annual funding allocation is not spent by the end of the financial year, it does not get carried forward, so the deliverability of projects within the time period was a key consideration.

Additional People & Skills projects will be identified in the coming months for inclusion in the final year of the programme.