Levelling Up: Council ecstatic over £20m for historic hall revamp

Known as Wigan's "crown jewel", Haigh Woodland Park draws 750,000 visitors annually

Refurbishing a historic hall with the help of £20m levelling up cash will create a "heritage destination of national significance", a council has said.

Wigan's Haigh Hall is one of three projects in Greater Manchester which have been granted money from the government's Levelling Up Fund.

Oldham has also been allocated £20m for its urban Northern Roots park.

A scheme to revamp Trafford's Partington Sports Village gets £18m.

Wigan Council Leader David Molyneux said local residents were "proud" of Haigh Hall and its links to the area's past and future, adding: "We are sure everyone will share our excitement with this news."

Derelict zoo

Councillor Chris Ready, who got married at the hall, said he was "ecstatic" about the funding.

"We only got notice yesterday so we're all a bit dumbstruck."

Known locally as Wigan's "crown jewel", the medieval estate and its 19th Century hall attracts about 750,000 visitors annually.

An artist's depiction of Oldham's Northern Roots Learning Centre

The state of the hall has declined in recent years but it is set for a £37.5m transformation, with other funding coming from the council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Mr Ready said: "The investment has not been in the hall for many, many years because, as the council budgets have been slashed over the years, it's not been a priority… so we want to redevelop the hall now."

The project also includes an underground bunker cinema, a rooftop terrace for astronomy, refurbishing gateway lodges and a derelict zoo will become a new visitors attraction and learning centre.

Bids by Rochdale and Stalybridge missed out on receiving shares of the government's Levelling Up Fund, which aims to minimise regional inequality and boost economic growth.

'Partial refund'

Funding bids to improve town centres in Wigan, Leigh and Ashton-Under-Lyne also failed during this second funding round.

Labour argued the money did not make up for cuts to services and council budgets made by previous Conservative governments.

Shadow Levelling Up secretary and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy said: "It takes an extraordinary arrogance to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have stripped out of our communities."

London boroughs have received more funding than both Yorkshire and the north-east of England.

But Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove argued that northern England and Wales were receiving more money per person.