ALMOST £17 million of regeneration projects for Shipley and Keighley – including revamps of the town centres, have been rubber stamped by Government.

The towns had both secured millions in Town Fund cash, £33m for Keighley and £25m for Shipley, but bids for how that cash would be spent still needed to be approved by Government.

On Thursday, it was announced that the next wave of projects submitted by the two towns boards had proved successful.

This includes a £3m expansion of the Cellar Trust site in Shipley to create a new health, wellbeing and community campus for the town. The campus will provide integrated community support services, and be run by Cellar Trust and HALE project.

Over £5m of cash will be awarded to improve the town’s Market Square.

A Sustainable Community Hub, offering community events, volunteering and personal development opportunities, will get funding of £2.51 million. The project will be led by The Hive Community Arts initiative.

In Keighley, £2.3m will be spent on town centre improvements, which will include improved walking and cycling routes.

A manufacturing, engineering future technologies centre will be developed at Keighley College with £3 million of funding.

A skills project will be developed in Keighley to provide space and facilities to develop local employment and entrepreneurship. It will deliver education and skills courses to adult learners of all ages to support transition to employment. The project will be run by Keighley College and will receive £910,000 in funding.

The funding has been provided by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and approved funding for the towns so far comes to £60m.

Thursday’s announcement follows approval of £21m for a Development Investment Fund to bring forward sites for development, alongside a package of community grants for £4.9m.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “This funding will make a big difference to the lives of local people in Keighley and Shipley. It’s been a real partnership effort and I want to thank all the community groups and representatives who have supported these bids to make them happen.”

Adam Clerkin, Shipley Towns Fund Chair, said: “This is great news for Shipley as the latest release of funding enables each project to come one step closer to reality.”

Ian Hayfield, Keighley Towns Fund Chair, said: "These projects will help achieve real social and economic change for all parts of Keighley’s diverse community.”