John Arceno will chair the board deciding how up to £20m of government money is spent in St Nicholas over ten years. Residents can join in from this summer.

The board that will steer up to £20 million of government investment into the St Nicholas area of Stevenage has its first chair. John Arceno, a St Nicholas resident of 15 years, was announced as chairperson of the Pride in Place Board on 3 August by Stevenage Borough Council and Stevenage MP Kevin Bonavia. (Stevenage Borough Council, 3 August 2026)

Arceno’s community record includes serving as a school governor and a charity trustee. “I am honoured to have been selected as Chairman of St Nicholas Pride in Place,” he said. “Having lived in St Nicholas for 15 years, this community means a great deal to me.”

He will now work with the MP and the council to finalise the rest of the board’s membership.

Where the £20 million comes from

St Nicholas ward was named a Pride in Place neighbourhood on 20 March 2026, in the second phase of the government’s £5 billion national programme launched in 2025. (Stevenage Borough Council, 20 March 2026; Pride in Place prospectus, GOV.UK)

The award gives the neighbourhood access to up to £2 million a year for ten years, and the council’s Pride in Place pages set out the rules the board must follow: at least eight members, at least 51 per cent of them living or working in the neighbourhood, the local MP and at least one ward councillor among them, and a make-up that reflects the demographics of St Nicholas. The structure is community led rather than council led.

Council leader Councillor Richard Henry said at the March announcement: “I am so proud of our community. I am thrilled that we have fought for, and secured, £20 million investment that will make such a positive impact.” Bonavia called the award “a once in a generation opportunity for St Nicholas”.

The money can go into regeneration, high streets, heritage, green spaces, community facilities, arts, skills, health, community cohesion, safety, education and digital infrastructure.

Timeline of the St Nicholas Pride in Place programme: the £20 million award on 20 March 2026, community engagement over summer 2026, John Arceno appointed chair on 3 August 2026, and the ten-year plan due with government by February 2027
Graphic by Stevenage Today

What happens next

The council is holding engagement events across the community over summer 2026, alongside an online survey, to understand where residents want the money to go. What comes out of that feeds a ten-year Pride in Place Plan, including a more detailed four-year investment plan for the first phase of delivery, which is due to be submitted to central government by February 2027.

What it means for you

If you live or work in St Nicholas, the board itself is the strongest route in: at least 51 per cent of seats are reserved for people who live or work in the neighbourhood. Email stnicholas.pip@stevenage.gov.uk to register interest in getting involved.

If you want something lighter than a board seat, a “Friends of St Nicholas” group is being developed for flexible, informal volunteering, with details promised shortly through the same email address.

If you have a view on priorities, this summer is the time to give it, at the engagement events or through the council’s online survey, because the plan that goes to government in February 2027 will set the direction for the first four years of spending. Any building work the fund eventually pays for will also surface on the planning register, which we follow at Stevenage planning news.