Pride in Place Chair Appointed

Redditch Borough Council are pleased to announce that Pete Martin has been appointed to lead the Greenlands and Woodrow Pride in Place Neighbourhood Board.

The board is being set up following the announcement that the area would receive up to £20 million in funding from the UK Government as part of their Pride in Place programme. They will work to guide how the investment is spent after the area was identified as a place full of potential.

Pete, who is already a strong advocate for the area with extensive experience working on community projects, will now lead on the recruitment for the rest of the board which has to be made up of members of the local community and those with strong connections to the area. They will be asking the community for ideas on how the money is prioritised and will lead on the delivery of those ambitions.

The newly elected chair said: “Greenlands and Woodrow mean a lot to me, so I’m really pleased to be taking on this role. I’ve seen first-hand the passion and pride people have for the area, and this funding gives us a real chance to build on that. I’m looking forward to listening to residents, bringing people together, and making sure the community helps shape what comes next.”

The chair will be working side-by-side with the community and the rest of the board to create a shared vision for the future and make decisions on how to use the funding to bring that vision to life.

Leader of the Council, Cllr. Matt Dormer, said: “This is an exciting step forward for Greenlands and Woodrow’s Pride in Place journey, and I am delighted to welcome Pete on board to Chair the Neighbourhood board. This investment represents a fantastic opportunity to champion local priorities and create lasting benefits for the area. I look forward to seeing the positive changes that the Board and residents will achieve together over the coming years.”

The Pride in Place programme looked for areas where long-term investment could help strengthen local connections, support community ideas, and build the kind of neighbourhood people are proud to call home. Using a national framework to guide its selection process – drawing on factors like local needs and the strength of community networks – the Government aimed to identify places where funding could make the biggest positive difference.

Member of Parliament for Redditch and the Villages, Chris Bloore MP, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that someone of Pete's calibre has been selected to lead the Neighbourhood board. He was an outstanding candidate and is well-known for his community work in Woodrow and across Redditch, fighting knife crime. When I secured this funding, twenty million pounds, the biggest direct financial investment into Redditch in memory, I made a promise that it was for local people to decide how it would be spent. Pete is hugely respected in the local community and across Redditch, and I can’t wait to work with him and local residents to deliver this critical investment.”

To find out more about the Pride in Place programme in Greenlands and Woodrow, please visit: https://www.redditchbc.gov.uk/residents/my-place/pride-in-place/