'It would be wrong not to welcome' £20million government boost for Walsall neighbourhood, council leader says
A £20million funding boost for a Walsall neighbourhood will be ‘led by the people, for the people’.
The statement was made by leader of Walsall Council, Councillor Mike Bird, as cabinet members approved the next steps for the Pride in Place programme for Blakenall.
Last year the government announced the funding directed specifically for ‘deprived’ neighbourhoods across England, Scotland and Wales.
The specific target area is titled Blakenall South, which stretches from the Bloxwich Road, encompassing Harden, some homes south of Well Lane and the Wyrley View estate off Goscote Lane.
The programme by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) requires the creation of a resident-led board to decide how the money is spent.
At a cabinet meeting on March 18, members tasked executive director Dave Brown and portfolio holder for enforcement and safer communities, Councillor Adam Hicken, with appointing the Pride in Place board.
Speaking at the meeting Councillor Bird said: “It would be wrong not to welcome the money coming into Blakenall and the borough as a whole. I sincerely hope that it will make a difference.
“I know that Councillor Smith is very much on board as to how he can involve the community and I commend him for that.
“He’s very vocal on his plans and in actual fact the community will be led by the people, for the people.”
Councillor Hicken said the process of appointing a chair and board ‘hasn’t yet begun’. The cabinet report states that early engagement has commenced with residents, partners and stakeholders.
In October 2025, Blakenall ward member Councillor Pete Smith raised concerns that the board in Blakenall will be made up of mostly ‘business leaders and professionals’, similar to the towns boards in Walsall, Bloxwich and Darlaston.
He recalled a previous New Deal funding programme in the early noughties which made ‘no difference’ to the high crime rates, unemployment rates and poor health indicators.
The following month he tabled a notice of motion at full council for the programme to be transparent and the board community-led, to which members supported.
Walsall Council now has until July 17, 2026, to submit a list of board members to the MHCLG, as well as any proposed changes to the boundary area.
The board then has until November 2026 to submit their Pride in Place plan for formal assessment.
Following approval, funds will be released from as early as Spring 2027.
