TEN projects chosen for government regeneration cash represent a "once in a generation chance" to transform Crewe.

That's the view of Cheshire East councillor Nick Mannion, who sits on Crewe Town Board, the body set up to oversee the package of investment from the Towns Fund.

It includes returning Flag Lane Baths back into use as an ambitious community hub, building a creative arts and music venue near the Lyceum Theatre and redeveloping the Cumberland Arena.

New facilities will be provided for young people at Crewe Youth Zone, which will include using the now derelict former Crewe Youth Centre in Mirion Street, and a public space created around a planned new History Centre in the former Civic Centre Library, which is receiving separate government funding.

While a linear park is to be shaped along Mill Street to provide a green corridor linking the town centre with Crewe Railway Station, while the town's pocket parks are to be given a makeover.

Nearly 70 schemes were submitted to Crewe Town board, which was set up last summer to oversee Crewe's bid for Towns Fund investment, part of the government's levelling-up strategy.

Of those potential projects 10 were selected to go forward and receive a share in the £22.9m pot Crewe won, the lion's share of the town's £24.96m bid.

"This is a once in a generation chance for Crewe and we have got to make sure it is successful," said Cllr Mannion, who also chairs Cheshire East Council's economy and growth committee and has been heavily involved in the overall regeneration strategy for Crewe, including the borough council's work to secure investment in the Royal Arcade site.

"We accept that people will be wary until they actually see things being delivered. People want to see things happening," added the councillor.

"The key will be to deliver these projects. We are most of the way through that process and the government was happy with them."

The town board is drafting detailed business cases for each project with its partners. These will be submitted for sign off by the government in the next two to three months with final funding offers confirmed before building work starts.

A key part of Crewe's future regeneration strategy is to link the railway station with the town centre with the potential benefits that HS2 investment will bring down the line and the possibility the new headquarters for Great British Railways will be located in the town.

One of the projects, the Mill Street Linear Park, seeks to address part of the problem of Crewe's traditional dog-leg approach to the town off the station and Nantwich Road.

"When you come out of station you don't see the centre or the new Market Hall. We want to improve the connectivity to the town and the public realm so people will come in," added Cllr Mannion.

"We want people to visit Crewe and stay to spend their money whether it is spending on entertainment or setting up a business."

Fellow board member Simon Yates says the town needs to encourage those residents who live on the edge and outskirts of the town to travel in more.

The reopening of Crewe Market Hall after a £3m investment is already leading the way with the venue's footfall exceeding expectations with the development of a real community meeting place thanks to live entertainment and a food hall.

"There are a lot of towns like Crewe that have been deindustrialised and one of the things that strikes you is that a lot of the of the people who live around the town don't come into Crewe and it is often the case they have the spending power," pointed out the former town councillor.

"So we need to regenerate where it has been hollowed out and make it more attractive for people to come in and spend time in the town centre.

"We now have a set of projects for investment in the town and a strategy for the next 15 years.

"We can create something to encourage people to visit the town centre, bring green spaces right into its heart and make the town a fantastic place.

"For example, the pocket parks have been here for years but there has been underinvestment in them and the facilities are poor. So it's trying to build back the town centre with that sense of community pride and getting people to engage in that process."

He added: "There were 60 or 70 projects that came forward and we could have spent £100m.

"There's a huge amount of work going on. So many good projects, but some were not "oven-ready" and we have to deliver them by 2026 so they had to be whittled down to those that could be delivered."

Tough decisions were made on selecting the schemes and those such as the Flag Lane Baths hub for which local charity Always Ahead had been campaigning to restore since closure in 2016 were in pole position.

The former baths are set to have £2.9m of Towns Fund cash invested [with £730,00 of other funding] to provide a community café, a social supermarket and community hall for performances in the former pool basin as well as an outdoor family zone.

Some of the projects that missed out on funding will still get support going forward, including Crewe Heritage Centre's plans to develop a large rail museum.

"We had a repositioning of a couple of the projects but we didn't have to abandon any. There will be match funding by our partners and other sources to make up the cost of delivering each individual project," added Cllr Mannion, who stresses politics will play no part in delivering the best outcome for Crewe, even though the town board's members come from a range of backgrounds.

"We have the responsibility at the accountable body to make sure the money is spent by the projects and our partners and Crewe Town Board.

"We leave our politics at the door. I might be a Labour councillor and Dr Kieran Mullan might be a Conservative MP but at the end of the day we are both committed to getting these projects delivered for Crewe."

The Crewe and Nantwich MP is also a board member and recalled taking former minister Jake Berry on a tour of Crewe in 2019 to push its claim.

"To come this far and see the 10 projects and an opportunity to tell the public about what we are going to be doing with the money and get them really excited too about the difference we are hoping to make with this £22.9m is fantastic," said the MP.

"I understand people are cynical about seeing change in Crewe and the most important thing we do is that we actually deliver and people see these projects happening and their town changing.

"For example the Flag Lane baths has got so many memories for so many people and it's been terrible to see that building fall into disrepair. But to see the passion of Rev. David Edwards and his Lighthouse team and to get the funding it needs is great – it's a real flagship project to show the people of Crewe we can make a difference to the area.

"People often tell me that there isn't enough for young people to do I the town and putting investment into facilities is going to be important. There are a lot of memories for the Mirion Street site and it is going to be fantastic that we are going to get that back into use with the South Cheshire Amateur Boxing Club getting a new home there."

• Crewe Town Board members hosted an engagement event at Crewe Market Hall today (Friday) where the public were able to view the proposals for the scheme as well as a selection of images and artists' impressions.