Leighton Street Traveller Site receives essential government funding

Preston's Leighton Street Traveller Site has been successfully awarded £337,220 for essential refurbishment and improvements to the site from the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities' (DLUHC) Traveller Site Fund.

The Traveller Site Fund was established to enable local authorities in England to increase the provision and refurbishment of permanent sites, transit sites and temporary stopping places for travellers.

Minister for Levelling Up, Dehenna Davison MP, said:

"We are supporting councils to improve travellers' life chances and build cohesion between the settled and traveller communities.  

"This funding is just one of the many ways we are improving opportunities for communities across the country, as part of the Levelling Up agenda." 

The site was transferred from Lancashire County Council ownership to Preston City Council in May 2022, which has been working closely with the Leighton Street Cooperative on the introduction of a new cooperative management arrangement for the site.

The funding will help to refurbish and improve the condition of the site, including the upgrade of mechanical and electrical equipment required for the installation of domestic meters, giving the residents greater control over their energy bills and running costs of the site.

As members of the newly formed cooperative, residents of the Leighton Street site will also benefit from greater security of tenancy and more hands on access to the estate management of their housing stock.

John Gavin, Leighton Street Co-operative Site Manager said:

"The funding to help improve the infrastructure on the site will mean a great deal to the residents as they will have more control of their monthly outgoings, helping them to budget more easily and improving the standard of living for everyone."

Leader of Preston City Council, Councillor Matthew Brown said,

"We are delighted to receive this much needed funding from DLUHC. The Leighton Street Cooperative, with help from Preston City Council, have been struggling to improve the utilities infrastructure on the site and to tackle the associated rising energy costs.

"This funding means that the council can now undertake, on the cooperative's behalf, the enabling works to upgrade the site's infrastructure, including the refurbishment of the utility blocks and new electricity meters which will provide residents greater control, flexibility, and reduce costs on their outgoing energy bills."

The Leighton Street Cooperative contributes positively to the Council's corporate commitment to equality, fairness and social justice, and in delivering the Council's Community Wealth Building strategy, which prioritises 'cooperative activity to address economic inclusion'.

Additional Information

• The prospectus for the Traveller Site Fund can be viewed on GOV.UK - Traveller Site Fund 2022/23
• The number of caravans on authorised sites has increased from July 2010 - July 2022 under a locally-led system. The number of caravans on unauthorised sites has stayed the same over this period.  
• Supporting local authorities to provide and improve authorised sites and temporary stopping places, will help to reduce the number of unauthorised encampments and the associated harms, community tensions and high costs to local areas, as well as ensuring travellers have access to local services, health care, and education to improve life chances.  
• This new support for authorised sites complements the action that the Government has taken under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to give the police more powers and work alongside Councils to tackle unauthorised encampments. 
• Preston City Council actively applies and prioritises the principles of Community Wealth Building wherever applicable and appropriate. Community Wealth Building is an approach which aims to ensure the economic system builds wealth and prosperity for everyone.

Full list of successful LPAs