WIREDGOV

Coastal Communities Minister gives support to over 100 new local teams that will help revive England’s seaside towns. 

• 116 Coastal Community Teams in every corner of the country
• seaside towns to benefit from funding and support
• Budget confirmed £90 million Coastal Community Fund to continue
• teams can also bid for new £3 million Coastal Revival Fund

Coastal Communities Minister Mark Francois recently (17 July 2015) gave his support to over 100 new local teams that will help revive England’s seaside towns and decide where investment goes.

The government has provided more than £1 million to fund 104 further Coastal Community Teams, on top of 12 existing pilots, to help bring jobs, growth and prosperity back to our beach towns and cities. The teams – bringing together local business, councils and people – will help coordinate regeneration projects in their area and get the chance to shape the next wave of the successful Coastal Communities Fund, announced in the Budget last week.

Speaking on a visit to Felixstowe in Suffolk on Friday, Coastal Communities Minister Mark Francois said:

This one nation government is determined to devolve powers and funding so that no corner of the country is left behind. This includes our historic coastal towns and cities that have in some cases fallen into decline in the past but can now ensure that the economic recovery is coming back to them too.

Coastal Community Teams will help decide where that investment goes because local people know best what is needed to grow their local economy. We are backing them with £1 million of direct support and the Budget also confirmed last week that at least £90 million more will be spent in the coming years through the Coastal Community Fund, which these teams will have access to.

By bringing together local businesses, local leaders and volunteers, Coastal Community Teams can help tap into their local heritage and make the most of our stunning seaside assets to make a success of the tourist trade. The teams can also help ensure local people have the skills and opportunities so that they benefit from the new jobs and investment too.

Along with each area being awarded £10,000 to kick-start work, the 116 Coastal Community Teams will also be able to bid for up to a £50,000 share of a new £3 million Coastal Revival Fund to support or restore local heritage and facilities which benefit the wider community and the surrounding economy, which is now open to applications.

Historic England Chief Executive Duncan Wilson said:

Heritage is an integral part of the English seaside; piers, bandstands, theatres and promenades are the backdrop to many happy summer holidays, but these kind of historic buildings often need money to help with repairs. Coastal Community Teams have fantastic ideas on revitalising and reusing their most precious buildings and this Coastal Revival Fund offers an excellent opportunity to get those projects up and running.

Heritage Lottery Fund Chairman Sir Peter Luff said:

Our coast has a distinctive heritage that, with the right investment, can drive regeneration, economic growth and job creation. The Coastal Revival Fund will help to unlock that potential and enable communities to take the first steps towards securing wider investment. The Heritage Lottery Fund is one source of that investment and we look forward to working with the Department for Communities and Local Government and local partners to achieve this vision.

Launched in 2012, the Coastal Communities Fund has already allocated nearly £119 million on 222 local infrastructure and economic projects across the UK. This is helping to create almost 13,700 jobs and provide more than 10,280 training places and apprenticeships. The Summer Budget last week announced that the Coastal Communities Fund would be extended to 2020 with at least £90 million of new funding.

Further information

The 116 new Coastal Community Teams, including the 12 existing pilot areas, will be in:

East Midlands

• East Lindsey and Heritage Coast
• Coast NE Lincs (Grimsby)
• Mablethorpe and Sutton
• Skegness

East of England

• Felixstowe
• Greater Ipswich
• Jaywick
• Lowestoft
• Cromer
• Deben Peninsula (Suffolk)
• Great Yarmouth
• Hunstanton
• Leigh-on-Sea
• Maldon
• River Crouch
• Shoeburyness
• Southend
• Wells Next-the-Sea

North East

• Coatham & Redcar
• North Shields and Fish Quay
• Bamburgh, Beadnell & Seahouses Northumberland
• Blyth
• Durham - Connected Coast
• Hartlepool Headland & Harbour
• Roker & Seaburn (Sunderland)
• Seaton Carew (Hartlepool)
• South Shields

North West

• Blackpool
• Barrow-in-Furness (Islands & Bays)
• Fleetwood
• Maryport, Cumbria
• New Brighton (Wirral)
• North Copeland
• Sankey Canal Linking the Locks (Widnes)
• Sefton Coast
• Silloth-on-Solway, Cumbria
• South Copeland Coast
• South Ribble
• St Anne’s
• Waterloo and Crosby (Southport)

South East

• Brighton and Hove
• Eastbourne
• Bexhill-on-Sea
• Bognor Regis Heritage Quarter
• Broadstairs
• Chatham
• Coastal West Sussex
• Deal and Sandwich
• Dover
• Dymchurch (Kent)
• Folkestone
• Gosport
• Gravesend
• Hastings - White Rock Trust
• Herne Bay
• Isle of Sheppey
• Lewes - Impact Seaford
• Littlehampton
• Margate
• Newhaven
• Peninsula Coastal Economy Team, Chichester
• Pevensey, East Sussex
• Ramsgate
• Ryde, Ilse of Wight
• Sandown, Ilse of Wight
• South Hayling Island
• Southampton
• Whitstable

South West

• Penzance
• Barnstaple
• Beer, East Devon
• Bideford
• Bridport
• Brixham
• Bude
• Burnham-on-Sea (Somerset)
• Clevedon
• Dorchester
• Portland Dorset
• Exe Estuary
• Exmouth
• Falmouth Area
• Fremington (North Devon)
• Hayle, Cornwall
• Looe
• Lydney (Forest of Dean)
• Lyme Regis
• Lynton and Lynmouth
• Minehead
• Newquay
• Newton Abbot
• Ilfracombe
• Paignton
• Plymouth
• Porthcurno
• Porthtowan
• Portreath
• Saltash Waterside (Cornwall)
• SevernNet (Bristol)
• St Austell
• St Endellion (Cornwall)
• St Ives
• Teignmouth and Dawlish Coast
• Torpoint & Rame
• Torquay
• Wadebridge (Cornwall)
• Watchet (West Somerset)
• Weston-super-Mare
• Weymouth

Yorkshire and Humber

• Hull
• Bridlington
• Goole
• North York Moors Coast
• Scarborough
• Whitby
• Withernsea (East Riding)

19 of the 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships are in coastal areas and as part of the government’s Growth Deals, over £700 million has been committed to projects in these areas to improve transport infrastructure, broadband connectivity, improving flood defences and improving opportunities for local people.

8 out of the 24 Enterprise Zones are in coastal areas which offer incentives for businesses to start up or expand including Business Rates relief, superfast broadband and simplified planning. Coastal Enterprise Zones have delivered over 5,300 jobs to date and helped to secure nearly £275 million of private sector investment to coastal areas.

Office address and general enquiries

2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Contact form http://forms.communiti...

General enquiries: please use this number if you are a member of the public 030 3444 0000

Media enquiries

Email press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk

Please use this number if you're a journalist wishing to speak to Press Office 030 3444 1201