Funding approved to support Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s market towns

Funding approved to support Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s market towns

The Combined Authority has approved funding to support business, leisure and community facilities in the region’s market towns, helping to ensure they remain vibrant places to live and work.

The Combined Authority’s Market Towns Programme is investing back into high streets, community buildings and outside spaces to support a sustainable future for these historic towns.

The latest funding commitments include £927,500 for the Littleport Business and Community Centre, which will create a multi-use facility to support local businesses, remote workers, and community groups.

The centre will serve as a hub for meetings, training sessions, workshops, and events, while also hosting outreach services for healthcare, wellbeing, education, and employment support.

The Combined Authority has worked with Littleport Town Council and East Cambridgeshire District Council on the project, with further funding secured for all of the £2.2 million cost. It is planned to open in October/November 2026.

In Whittlesey, Market Towns Programme work to install solar PV panels at Manor Leisure Centre has come in £45,000 under budget. The Combined Authority has approved the use of these savings to provide new pool covers, a new heat exchanger at the leisure centre to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs. A further £12,000 of the underspend will support the Whittlesey Southern Relief Road project, also within the Market Towns programme, aimed at reducing congestion.

And at Wisbech Park funding has been approve for the installation of a permanent electricity supply to support community events, festivals and other outdoor activities. As well as supporting existing events in the calendar, the upgrade will encourage more events for recreation, sport, youth work activities and health and wellbeing. The funding was made available after another scheme, Shop Watch Radio, was no longer able to proceed.

The Combined Authority’s Investment Committee was updated on the funding approvals at its meeting on Monday (March 10).

Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “Our market towns are rich in culture and heritage and are a vital part of what makes Cambridgeshire and Peterborough special. Our Market Towns programme is a multi-million-pound commitment to ensuring they can prosper into the future, with improved facilities, better infrastructure, and stronger local economies. These latest investments will make a real difference.”

Littleport Town Council Chairman Clive Webber, said: “This is a significant development for the residents of Littleport. The Council is delighted to have secured this funding to provide a community hub which aims to support local businesses, health services, and host further educational providers, creating a centralised space which will enhance local services and resources for the residents of Littleport.”