MP 'hopeful' of Waterlooville town centre regeneration as government pushes levelling up bill

Following the Queen's speech earlier this week, in which the government laid out plans for levelling up across the country, one Conservative MP is already vying for Waterlooville to have a slice of the pie.

The MP for Meon Valley, Flick Drummond, says the town centre in particular needs support from the government in order to flourish.

Mrs Drummond said: 'I support the view that the best way to tackle these global challenges is through growing and strengthening the economy. The levelling up and regeneration bill will do much in this area, including, I hope, money to regenerate Waterlooville.

'The whole of the town centre needs developing, and it is one of my top priorities as an MP to get at least a plan in place.

'It is mostly privately owned so not as easy as it could be but a vision or plan should help focus developers' minds.'

The regeneration work is intended to come from the levelling up and regeneration bill, which was introduced to parliament on May 11.

Outlining the bill while reading the Queen's speech last week, Prince Charles said: ‘A bill will be brought forward to drive local growth, empowering local leaders to regenerate their areas, and ensuring everyone can share in the United Kingdom’s success.

‘The planning system will be reformed to give residents more involvement in local development.’

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On top of this, it is hoped that the bill will give a boost to the pre-existing community infrastructure levy, which is a charge issued by local authorities for new developments in their area.

On the regeneration side, there are also set to be changes to laws around the compulsory purchase of land, pavement licences and vagrancy and begging.

The bill is currently in its second reading stage in the House of Commons.

Next month, Mrs Drummond will be hosting a public meeting for people to share their own thoughts on regenerating Waterlooville.

The event will be taking place at St George's Church in Hambledon Road, Waterlooville, from 4pm on Friday, June 10.