A town councillor has raised concerns about whether Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) is making best use of the 'Welcome Back' funding it was allocated by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

At a meeting of Leek Town Council last week, Cllr Matt Swindlehurst told councillors that SMDC has been allocated £87,090 which it has chosen to divide into sums of £18,000 for each of the three towns in the district.

The remaining £33,090 was set aside to be used centrally by SMDC to produce signage and marketing materials, appoint a marketing agency and to work with local traders and groups to produce videos and blog posts.

The funding is specifically targeted towards encouraging people back into town centres, and has to be spent within guidelines set by the ERDF.

Cllr Swindlehurst said, to his knowledge, no action has yet been taken by SMDC.

"This is despite both Cheadle and Leek having a planned series of activities which SMDC approved back in June," he said.

Cllr Swindlehurst added that there was a meeting of SMDC councillors and officers recently, but this included no representation from town councils to discuss how the funding could be used.

He's been advised that Leek Town Council, along with Cheadle Town Council and Biddulph Town Council, will be invited to a future meeting to discuss the project.

Cllr Swindlehurst said: "As a town council we are determined to do everything we can to support the retail centre but SMDC must play its part.

"By now we should have had a significant plan in place to promote the many events leading up to Christmas.

"The money could have paid for signs on the approach roads, a campaign across the region to raise the town's profile, and much, much more."

He said the opportunity to promote a fun day last week has been missed, and that there's too little time to put a full plan in place to promote an art trail due to be held in under a fortnight's time.

He's also concerned that conversations with regards to a Halloween event at the end of October are being constrained by not having a marketing strategy in place, using the funds SMDC has allocated to promotion and signage.

Cllr Swindlehurst believes it's right that there should be a central pot to achieve cost savings – when appointing a marketing agency for instance – but is frustrated the the budget was agreed in June and there's been little evidence of its use.

He said: "We're now into September and there's no sign of it having been spent."

"We've got events coming through with no support from the district council."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked SMDC to provide a response.