Coastal communities must be part of the conversation
This week, a joint letter written by myself and Polly Billington, MP for East Thanet, has been published by the Financial Times.
The letter expresses our disappointment in their reporting of the new English Indices of Deprivation (IoD25) figures – government statistics that show levels of deprivation in neighbourhoods across England. The FT reported that the uncovering of hidden pockets of deprivation in London and rural England will shape policy and funding decisions for several years to come, but did not focus on coastal communities which were reviled to be the most deprived.
Seven neighbourhoods in Blackpool were listed in the top 10 most deprived in the country. This is a reminder of the consequences of decades of neglect but these figures do not define us. We are a resilient, creative community with real strengths in tourism, hospitality and emerging industries.
I’m confident that we finally have a government that understands the scale of our challenges and is willing to help us turn these statistics around – because when Blackpool succeeds, Britain succeeds. I’ve been continuously demonstrating to the government that Blackpool has the answers to its own problems – in the communities that have been battling our problems while previous governments left us to fend for ourselves. All we need is the investment to make change happen.
The government also needs a long-term plan for coastal renewal – not sticking-plaster funding rounds that come and go with political cycles. Blackpool is full of potential and talent. If the government matches the ambition of local people, then I am confident we will thrive.
Below is the letter published in the FT in full.
Letter: Coastal communities must be part of the conversation
From Polly Billington MP and Chris Webb MP, Members of Parliament for Thanet East and Blackpool South
We were disappointed your reporting of the new index of multiple deprivation (IMD) did not give more space to the complex challenges facing our coastal communities. In Blackpool and in Thanet we face issues just as profound as the post-industrial places such as north Durham, yet often get put in the “too difficult” box by policymakers (Report, November 1).
And yet not only do our coastal constituencies harbour the consequences of decades of neglect, they also offer significant opportunities for growth in key sectors such as clean energy, hospitality, tourism and environmental protection and management. We have generations of untapped talent and overlooked natural assets that could be harnessed, reducing the costs of failure that often concerns the Treasury and that underpin its desire for cuts in social programmes that keep communities alive but barely thriving.
All top 10 areas in the IMD list are coastal. And half of the top 50 are in coastal local authorities. That is huge, especially as the register has factored in housing costs for the first time, which pushes inner London areas up the rankings.
We do not wish to compete for which kind of place is the most deprived. We do wish to ensure that coastal communities are at the heart of the national conversation around renewal. So does the public.
Research by the Good Growth Foundation indicates that 82 per cent of the public think it is important for the government to adopt a long-term strategy to tackle the challenges facing coastal areas. We are an island nation, and our coastal towns are part of our national identity. They can and must be part of our national renewal too.
Main image: Polly Baden
