Last Friday, I attended the first meeting of the Forest of Dean’s Levelling Up Fund Project Board held at the Forest of Dean Growth Hub at Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean.
Back in October’s Budget, it was announced that the Forest of Dean’s £20 million Levelling Up bid to central Government had been approved. This was after lobbying by me to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. I was pleased to do my bit to persuade Ministers that this project is 100% worth the investment and I’m delighted these efforts paid off. It’s what you get with me as your local MP who will stand up and loudly make our case in Westminster.
The Levelling Up Fund Project Board meetings will ensure we move this ambitious project along at pace to completion. These meetings will take place quarterly and will be attended by myself and representatives of the Forest of Dean District Council, Hartpury College & Hartpury University and Cinderford Town Council.
The projects this money will fund will include a new leisure and community hub at Five Acres, an Enterprise Learning Centre at Hartpury College & University campus and regeneration for Cinderford town centre. I look forward to attending more meetings of the board and updating you on our progress.
Last week I also had the opportunity of getting my booster vaccination from the Forest of Dean’s vaccine rollout hub in the old health centre in Cinderford.
I am grateful to the friendly, efficient team in Cinderford who delivered my vaccine and pay tribute to the NHS team across Gloucestershire who continue to rollout booster vaccinations at a decent pace.
I strongly believe that it should be down to an individual’s choice as to whether they get vaccinated, but I was more than happy to get my booster.
I look forward to having my latest meeting with our county’s NHS leadership, along with my fellow Gloucestershire MPs, this week to discuss the booster rollout and make sure they are effectively spending the considerable additional resources recently provided to them by central Government.