TORRIDGE and West Devon MP Sir Geoffrey Cox has welcomed the announcement that Torridge is one of the twenty areas selected for the rollout of the Government's new Levelling Up Partnerships programme in England. 

This transformative opportunity for Torridge, which was announced during yesterday's Budget, will see the formation of a taskforce involving the MP, Torridge District Council, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and local businesses, to identify barriers to growth in the local economy and priorities for regeneration. Government departments will work together to identify ways of facilitating growth, which will unlock tens of millions of pounds of direct investment into Torridge. The 20 areas will share an initial £400 million for this purpose. 

Sir Geoffrey said: “This represents an unprecedented transformative opportunity for Torridge and I am delighted that the representations I have made to the Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the vital importance of the levelling up programme to Torridge have been listened to. This comes on top of the successful £15.6 million levelling up bid announced in January for the Maritime Innovation Centre in Appledore.

"Now is the time to get to work, to make use of the huge potential of this initiative to improve the lives of thousands of people in our coastal and rural communities. We must develop a clear plan of action to do so and I shall be proposing the formation of the taskforce immediately after the local elections."