A review of past funding bids and future proposals is taking place to provide the “strongest foundation” for BCP Council’s regeneration’s ambitions.
Council leader Cllr Vikki Slade said a “pragmatic approach” to projects was needed due to financial challenges.
The Liberal Democrat gave the response when asked about the unsuccessful bid for levelling up funding to kick-start the ‘Lighthouse Quarter’ scheme in the area around Poole Bus Station.
Cllr Slade said: “We all know that this area of Poole would benefit from extra investment, as do a number of other areas across our three towns.
“So our focus right now is to identify the key projects and sites in BCP that can make the biggest difference to our residents.
“Once we’ve done this, we’ll start to explore funding options for whatever projects we want to take forward and take every opportunity to bid for the right funding for these when it comes available.”
Cllr Slade said none of the work completed on making the paid will be wasted.
She said the council was carrying out the review to “make sure we build the strongest foundation possible for our regeneration ambitions in the context of today’s challenging financial environment”.
Asked how important the Lighthouse Quarter project and wider Heart of Poole vision is, Cllr Slade said: “This bid fed into the council’s current vision for the rejuvenation of Poole town centre – improving accessibility and attracting locals and visitors to the Lighthouse, whilst encouraging economic growth along the high street; towards the Quay and into surrounding areas.
“We’re delivering a £1.25m High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme in partnership with Historic England, aiming to transform dilapidated buildings into new homes, shops and work or community spaces.
“The Lighthouse Quarter project was designed to complement this fund’s objective of fuelling economic, social and cultural recovery in the town."
The local authority received “valuable feedback” on its unsuccessful funding bid.
The challenges facing the specific area of Poole were “successfully highlighted”, Cllr Slade said, but the council will work to make its “monitoring, evaluation and value for money planning stronger”.
BCP FuturePlaces, the council’s urban regeneration company, assisted with submitting the bid.
Gail Mayhew, BCP FuturePlaces managing director, said: “The Lighthouse, Poole’s signature arts centre, is of great value to the wider area and could form a catalyst - along with improvements that are being made to the Dolphin Centre by the owners.
“This part of Poole has been a regeneration priority, and the opportunity of the levelling up second round was too good to miss. It provided a potential source of funding to undertake much-needed enhancement of the public realm to provide a better experience for users of the area and kick-start transformation.”
Ms Mayhew said the bid aimed to “activate” regeneration in the short-term while supporting the long-term transformation ambition for the area.
She said it was still viewed as a council priority, which would hopefully be pursued “in time”.
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