The first official meeting on how to make the most of the £20 million cash injection into one of Kent’s most deprived areas has been held.

Around 50 people crammed into The Criterion in Blue Town, Sheerness, last night to discuss the Pride in Place funding coming to the east end of the Isle of Sheppey.

Sheppey East, a ward which includes the villages of Warden, Eastchurch and Leysdown, is set to receive £2m every year for the next decade – the only area in Kent to secure the commitment from the government.

The cash is needed as the region is one of the most deprived not only in Kent but also in the country.

It can be spent on reviving high streets and restoring parks to breathe new life into pubs, leisure centres and community halls.

Communities will also gain new powers to seize boarded-up shops, block nuisance businesses and buy assets before they close.

With such a wide range of projects that the funding could go on, KentOnline spoke to residents and businesses across Sheppey East to find out what they think the cash should go towards last week.

Last night during the Island Forum meeting, a panel took questions and explained how the money could be spent once a neighbourhood board had been set up.

Chairwoman of the Thames Estuary Growth Board, Kate Willard OBE, said Islanders need to think about how they can use the £20million to get even more investment into the area.

She has been involved in a similar project on Canvey Island in Essex, which has set up a board and is asking residents for their opinions.

She said: “It’s not a lot of money, but a lot of money at the same time.

“£20 million is brilliant and great, but it can do some much more. So how can you use the £20m to leverage more and more investment so that it can become £30m or £40m?

“[But] the first really important thing is governance.”

While who will sit on the board is undecided, Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Kevin McKenna (Lab), who helped to secure the funding, said it must have not only local people on it but also people with the right skills.

He also hopes that while the cash is exclusively for Sheppey East, it will also boost other areas in his constituency.

“If we get this right, there will be benefits across the whole Island,” Mr McKenna added.

“The really big cheques should be coming in in 2026 and 2027, and this stage is about getting ready for that money.

“We can move faster to get this up and running, and on how we organise this.

“We need to work out what the problems people on the eastern end of Sheppey are facing, what their vision is, and how they would want it to look.”

Once residents and businesses have had their say, the neighbourhood board will have come up with a development plan which will be sent to the government for approval.

Swale council will be accountable for this plan and will be setting up listening sessions.

The authority’s chief executive, Larissa Reed, explained the plans needed to be for the “long-term” and must demonstrate how they will “transform people's lives” to receive the green light from the government.

She said: “It has to be about the main issues in the area; what are the barriers that are stopping people from thriving, what is stopping them from getting a better job and creating a better community life.

“Residents are not likely to see a big bang, as this is how we can make it better for the long term.

“It’s not just the community saying ‘we want four play areas and a petrol station’.”

Some suggestions were brought up during the meeting, including one from Sittingbourne tutor Sophie Spillet.

The former Oasis Academy Minster teacher, who started her own business in 2018, said she thinks the money should be spent on a secondary school.

It comes after more than 50 families were given school places off the Island in March due to the increased popularity of EKC Secondary School and Leigh Academy Minster.

Read more: ‘We need extra places’: Fears more pupils will be sent to school 25 miles away

She said: “Now that we have got the money, could it go towards a new secondary school at the eastern end of the Island?

“Parents who are travelling to Faversham have told me they are spending £80 to £100 a week on petrol and are thinking of pulling their kids out of school.”