Friday, 24 December 2021
Welcome Back funding will help give Sherburn-in-Elmet a new appeal to visitors and residents.
Sherburn-in-Elmet village centre is getting a series of improvements through partnership working which spans the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, Selby District Council, Sherburn-in-Elmet Parish Council and Sherburn-in-Elmet Community Trust.
Cash for a series of improvements – aimed at drawing residents and visitors back after the Covid pandemic – has come from the Government’s Welcome Back Fund, financed with money made available through the European Regional Development Fund.
That has been distributed by the Government to local authorities and £80,400 has been made available for Selby, Tadcaster and Sherburn-in-Elmet.
Cllr David Buckle, Lead Executive member for Communities and Economic Development at Selby District Council said:
“This has provided a fantastic opportunity to make some changes where they will have a really positive impact.
“Communities everywhere are working to get back to normal after the pandemic and Sherburn is no different.
“We know residents in Sherburn are looking forwards to the future and these improvements will make the town an enjoyable place to be.”
The changes come alongside projects to improve Selby and Tadcaster and for Sherburn-in-Elmet include the creation of new Welcome Back films, featuring venues including the Sherburn and Villages Community Library, Old Girls’ School Community Centre and Eversley Park Centre, to help encourage people back to pre-pandemic activities.
Welcome Back funding has also paid for new planters on Low Street, chosen by Sherburn Community Association, which maintains planters in the area and Sherburn-in-Elmet Gala Association have been involved in arranging festive lighting and lamp post upgrades as part of the package. Barrier planters have also been placed and planted outside the library.
A new online events calendar, created by local company Creative Shed Agency, an idea put forward by Sherburn-in-Elmet Community Trust, will provide an easy to use webpage on www.sherburninelmet.co.uk/events to provide a one stop location for residents to see what’s happening in their community and for groups to submit their own events and activities. A new information booklet will also be distributed to households in the New Year and be made available in the library, providing a directory of community clubs, activities, services and other attractions.
Sanitiser stations are provided at community venues, accessible seating installed in Fairways and Eversley parks and Sherburn Wombles litter picking group provided with new equipment.
All three towns are involved in a project by Social Vision (a York based social enterprise) under the funding scheme, which will be used to pilot new activities residents can get involved in, within their local centres. The pilot will be used to help identify and test those activities with a sustainable future, which aim to become a long-term part of the community.
Footfall counts are also to be done in each area to monitor visitor numbers to assess the success in getting people back to their old habits of visiting town centres.