RESIDENTS and business owners in Boscombe have reacted to plans to transform the town’s high street after Bournemouth secured almost £22 million in the government’s Town Deal fund. Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed Bournemouth as one of 45 towns to receive a portion of the government’s £1 billion Town Deal fund in his budget presentation on Wednesday March 3. The funding will mean that Boscombe is now set to benefit from a major regeneration programme which will include the replacement of the Sovereign Shopping Centre and a new public square where festivals and events will take place. A Southbourne resident said: “I think there have been a lot of negative ideas put forward in the past, but the area does need rejuvenating. To get people coming back to the area, there needs to be some sort of regeneration.