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MERSEYSIDE could miss out on £30m of crucial European regeneration cash, due to uncertainties surrounding matched funding.
Earlier this year, the area was allocated £30m by the Brussels funded Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) project to be spent subsidising property development schemes.
But a report prepared for Wirral Council’s Cabinet meeting today says work to create a Merseyside Urban Development Fund (UDF) to manage the cash has proved more complex than planned.
The report warns that, unless councils in Merseyside stump up the required match funding to support JESSICA, the area could lose the European cash. The match funds would take the total cash available to £60m.
In contrast, a similar £20m fund for the rest of the North West – run by Manchester City Council – has already attracted tens of millions of pounds of matched funding from private investors.
