The government’s new initiative gives £20m over 10 years to 19 areas in Greater Manchester – and voters decide how to spend it
18:40, 26 Sep 2025Updated 19:08, 26 Sep 2025
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In late August, groups of men were climbing ladders and attaching Union Jacks and St George’s crosses to street furniture across Greater Manchester.
‘Operation Raise The Colours’ was a simple act of DIY patriotism, its proponents claimed, but critics pointed out some flags came from far-right groups like Britain First and believed they were put up to intimidate asylum seekers.
Authorities largely let the flags be, promising only to remove those which posed a safety hazard. But the government has now responded, saying it is backing ‘true patriots’ with billions of pounds.
The new ‘Pride in Place’ programme will give 339 areas £20m over a decade to improve neighbourhoods — and let locals decide how to spend their money.
“For too long, people have watched their towns and streets decline – powerless to stop boarded-up shops and neglected parks. That ends now,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday night (September 25).
“This is a huge investment, but what matters most is who decides how it’s spent: the neighbours, volunteers and parents who know their communities best – the people with real skin in the game.”
Greater Manchester has 19 lucky areas, covering nine boroughs. And now the city’s £380m richer, the Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to 42 voters in every neighbourhood to see how they would spend the cash.
A huge range of everyday issues were mentioned, from new public toilets in Wythenshawe, increased litter-picking in Gorton, and additional benches in Pendleton. But what people most want are places they can connect with others.
The top ideas were for a greater variety of shops so locals can bump into each other and new facilities for young people to socialise in.
Lucinda Short, 33, wants something for crafty kids in Wythenshawe(Image: LDRS)“Turn it into somewhere like Greece or Spain”
The last point was the wish of mum-of-two Lucinda Short, from Baguley but a frequent Wythenshawe visitor. She’s crafty, proudly displaying a phone case she’s decorated herself with charms, and had just bought another.
“It needs more for the youth like youth groups and maybe a cinema,” the 33-year-old said of the town.
“They just need places. Parents can take kids to do arts and crafts, there’s loads in Stockport or the city Centre, but there’s not much in the area for kids or the older youth.
“I have to go online to buy craft stuff now. I just want to sit down with a nice drink and make a nice phone case.”
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It’s a similar complaint at the other end of Greater Manchester. In Wigan’s Platt Bridge, Sophie Lowe, 28, said: “There’s not a lot for mums and babies here.
“We have to go to Newton-le-Willows to be with other mums and toddlers, but there’s a waiting list because it’s oversubscribed.
Sophie’s friend Shaunah Marsh, also 28, agreed: “There’s not enough for babies. It’s my first time here at the community centre and I will definitely be back. But the money should be spent on facilities like this.”
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Not too far away, near Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors’ home of The Brick Community Stadium which locals lament for causing parking chaos, a similar idea came from Marsh Green dog-walker Louise Birtwistle, 45.
She said: “My two children are older now, but they need to get rid of the sand in the play area here because there’s glass in it. It should be replaced with a safer surface.
“There’s a five-a-side football pitch here, but we could also do with some non-football games areas.”
Louise Birtwistle wants play park improvements(Image: LDRS)
Another Green, this time Salford’s Peel Green, is where Chris Kenyon, 53, made the most ambitious suggestion yet: “Turn it into somewhere like Greece or Spain.”
As £20m doesn’t buy you the power to re-direct the sun, he added: “We need more for the kids and for the community, there’s a park around the corner but otherwise there’s not much for kids to do around here.”
Graham Leigh, has lived in Breightmet all his life(Image: LDRS)
Graham Leigh, 60, has lived in Breightmet all his life. He’s seen ‘a lot of housing development here over the years, some for the better and some for the worse’. But he’s not seen many new parks.
He explained: “I’ve noticed the number of green spaces for children and families get less and less and the homes are built and we will lose more, with Dome park going to housing.
“I’d like to see some of the money spent on nice, safe, open spaces for the kids and the next generation to enjoy.”
In Hattersley, Dave Stanbury said youngsters can be a nuisance around the drive-thru McDonald’s and near the ‘big Tesco’ next the M67 roundabout.
Dave Stanbury, from Hattersley(Image: LDRS)
He feels a better community centre, rather than just the library that sits inside the Hattersley Hub is desperately needed.
“Maybe some traffic calming measures for boy racers on scooters would be good,” the 67-year-old said. “There is a lot of vandalism and antisocial behaviour around here. They need a proper community centre where kids can go. They’ve just got nothing to do here.”
Up in Alt, a tiny Oldham suburb tucked between Holts and Lees, locals know the value of having something for children to do.
“This summer there was a fun fair, there needs to be more of that,” said 37-year-old Lisa. “I think there should be more to do for the younger kids. There’s lots for teenagers and kids over the age of eight. But there’s not much for the little ones, especially in the school holidays.”
“People don’t talk to each other anymore, the whole place is different”
But Lisa’s wish wasn’t just for her own children — she wanted improved shops and cafes locally.
Radcliffe is a sizeable town with some major high street names, but it’s lacking smaller stores, Dawn Ashton said: “I’d like to see the money spent in making the town attractive for independent, smaller shops.
“The town has supermarkets but is crying out for a choice for shoppers. It would be great to make it more attractive.
“I’d like to see places selling fresh fruit and veg, a shoe shop, maybe a place selling children’s clothes.”
Dawn Ashton, from Radcliffe(Image: LDRS)
Ata Urrehman, 46, from Monsall, is a dad to smiley two-year-old Abdulahad. Although he thinks his area’s on-the-up, he said shops are ‘quite far away’.
“The nearest ones are just cornershops,” he went on. “And there’s not really things like cafes or places for families to go together.”
Ata Urrehman, 46, from Monsall, is a dad to two-year-old Abdulahad(Image: LDRS)
Clayton Vale needs a similar drive, according to 38-year-old John, out walking his sausage dog Stan on Lingfield Green.
“If we get cheap local shops instead of franchises where the cost is through the roof, the money will help,” he said. “Shops that we need instead of phone and vape shops – green grocers, butchers, that kind of thing. There’s a row of shops down the road, but they’re all barbers and takeaways and off licenses.”
Under the plans, communities will ‘gain new powers to seize boarded-up shops, block nuisance businesses’, which is a positive sign for some.
John, a sausage dog owner in Clayton(Image: LDRS)
Pendleton was once defined by its shops, as home of Salford Shopping City. But the concrete structures are now defined by emptiness, Scott White said.
“There used to be more businesses around too, butchers, convenience stores, hairdressers, but it’s lost a lot of them,” said the 57-year-old.
“The community feel you used to get around here is gone. I do see quite a bit of deprivation in Pendleton, there’s a lot of people with health problems, and there’s probably more social housing than other places.”
And the best example of losing local shops costing a community its connection came in Brinnington, where every the LDRS spoke to said the same thing.
“We used to have every type of shop you could need, there were two butchers, a cafe, and loads more,” explained Warren Hughes, 89. “But it’s all changed now. People don’t talk to each other anymore, the whole place is different.”
Warren Huges, in Brinnginton(Image: LDRS)
“New spaces for shops and businesses would help,” explained 61-year-old Pete Nicolson, a delivery driver. “Any thriving business would benefit an area, like cafes or anything really, not vaping shops or betting shops, we don’t need any of those.”
And one woman, age 49, who asked to stay anonymous said she wants to leave ‘Brinny’ — because its heart has gone.
“We had butchers and bakers but it’s gone now, the heart is gone from Brinnington,” she said.
“You used to go to the shops and meet people, see your friends. Now you just get what you need and go home. It’s lost the community and taken the heart away.
“If there was anything I would want this money to be spent on, it’s that, trying to bring the heart back to Brinnington.”
“Maybe this cash can change things, but it’s up to the community to do it properly”
Although most welcomed the money, a sizeable minority of voters were unsure it can actually turn their neighbourhoods around.
Dinah Banks, in Hurstead, is one of those: “I think people just get on with their own lives. Why bother, look at it, it’s got no life at the moment.
“People don’t bother here. So the money could be wasted because they won’t get what we need.”
Dinah Banks, 75(Image: LDRS)
Zoe Jones, a SEND teacher in Harpurhey, also fears it’s a flash-in-the-pan: “The problem is they can’t just throw money at it and call it a day.
“That’s what they did with the Harpurhey Together Parade – I was one of the puppeteers. It was a lovely day, but now what? They think they can just give us a one-off thing to shut us up, but what we need is ongoing investment. So I’ll be interested to see what they do.”
Ken Whittle, 90(Image: LDRS)
One man who has seen the evolution of his area, for good and bad, is Smallbridge’s Ken Whittle. And he knows that it’s on everyday folk to become the ‘true patriots’ the Prime Minister mentioned and have their say.
“I’m very skeptical about this… People here are used to getting nothing,” the 90-year-old mused.
“Maybe this cash can change things, but it’s up to the community to do it properly.”