A new strategy to
help all seaside towns flourish by restoring iconic piers,
creating new jobs, and improving local housing was announced today
by Communities Secretary John Denham.
The Government wants to ensure coastal areas are best placed to
take advantage of their natural resources and assets, historic
infrastructure, and high quality of life, as well emerging green
industries - to develop strong and successful local economies.
Many seafronts have been transformed through Government
investment and support since 1997 such as Scarborough, St Ives and
Roker and the new strategy aims to extend the seaside renaissance
tackling the unique challenges coastal areas face.
"Strategy for Seaside Success; securing the future of
seaside economies, includes a commitment to work with the Heritage
Lottery Fund to find ways to further extend their work in
restoring iconic piers, which are of critical public value; a new
£5 million fund for 25 priority areas to create jobs, support
business and improve skills of the long term unemployed; new
licensing rules for councils over Houses in Multiple Occupation to
tackle problems around low quality seaside housing; and a pledge
to extend the SeaChange Programme, which has already pumped £38
million into improving seaside infrastructure in 32 areas, beyond 2011.
Mr Denham made the announcement on a visit to Hastings where he
saw the work going on to regenerate the area including the new
Jerwood Gallery and Foundation at the historic beach huts.
John Denham said:
"Our coastal areas are rich with history and a high
quality of life that makes them attractive places to live in and
many seafronts have been transformed in recent years with
Government investment and support.
"Places like St Ives, Hastings and Scarborough are
showing they can thrive once again through strong local leadership
and dynamic businesses, no longer dependent on British weather,
attracting visitors all year round. There is no reason why our
other seaside towns can’t flourish in the same way.
"Today I'm announcing a new strategy that will
help each coastal area take advantage of the new opportunities and
support available - from restoring piers and creating jobs, to
improving local housing, and funding creative projects that will
develop stronger economies and help ensure the successful future
of the British seaside."
Patrick Browne of the Coastal Communities Alliance (CCA) said:
"The creation of a national Coastal Towns Strategy, the
retention of SeaChange and the additional funding to address
entrenched social problems within our historic resorts, will
delight regeneration practitioners who have long campaigned for
such recognition.
"Seaside towns are immensely
attractive and popular places, but their distinctive social and
economic structures can maintain worklessness, benefit dependency,
low educational attainment and poor health, all of which are
costly for the individuals and families involved and for the
providers of coastal public services. New solutions and visions
are required for our emotive coastal resorts.
"The new "coastal strategy" provides
the framework for new thinking, while the additional funding
should enable new local solutions for addressing corrosive coastal
deprivation. The CCA warmly welcome these developments".
The strategy sets out details for the following:
- A new £5 million Seaside Towns Grant to help priority seaside
towns tackle long term jobless - each council will receive
£200,000, including £1 million for South West, £1.2 million for
North East and £1 million for South East.
- A pledge to extend the SeaChange Programme which has already
pumped £38 million into improving seaside infrastructure in 32
areas beyond 2011;
- Heritage Lottery Fund to look at how more support can be given
for iconic piers which are a unique part of a seaside’s historic
infrastructure. The fund has already given more than £234 million
to 864 projects in English coastal resorts since 1997;
- New licensing rules for councils over Houses in Multiple
Occupation will help tackle problems around low quality seaside
housing; looking at what else is needed to prevent dodgy landlords
getting caravan site licences;
- Powers to bring unused properties and coastal land back into
use quickly through new ‘Meanwhile Leases’;
- Support for a ‘Seasiding’ campaign with festivals to attract
cultural investors and strengthen non-seasonal economies to help
them become year round visitor destinations;
- Neighbourhood policing will help tackle local concerns about
anti-social behaviour (ASB) and crime in seaside towns. Three
coastal areas have been chosen to develop Neighbourhood
Agreements, covering local standards of service and priorities for
action – Portsmouth, Newquay and Berwick. Government will also
look into the impact of day visitors;
- New UK offshore wind farms licenses could be worth £75 billion
and create 70,000 new jobs, many of which would be in coastal
areas, by 2020;
- Interest free energy efficiency and renewable energy loans to
help small business buy energy saving equipment;
- Regional Development Agencies and Tourism Boards like Visit
Britain to give maximum promotion to seaside towns in their region;
- Seaside proof public sector services to strengthen co-operation
through single regional strategies, with Regional Minister as
seaside champions, and delivery of online services personalised to
seaside town needs
Greater devolution and Regional Development
Agencies are already helping to strengthen powers councils have to
drive forward regional economic development.
For example, councils in four areas - Fylde Coast; Bournemouth,
Dorset and Poole; Merseyside and Pennine Lancashire - have all
signed up to single development plans called Multi-Area
Agreements.
The North West Development Agency has invested over £200 million
in coastal towns and the East of England Development Agency has
invested over £86 million in areas including Great Yarmouth,
Lowestoft and Southend.
Money from the Working Neighbourhoods
Fund and New Deal for Communities has also been targeted at 21
coastal authorities.
In addition, many seaside towns have already proven they can
transform themselves from high seasonal unemployment to year round
thriving businesses. In 2009 Scarborough won the most enterprising
town in Europe and Lowestoft was named most enterprising in Britain.
Notes to Editors
1. Strategy for Seaside Success; securing the future of seaside
economies" is available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/citiesandregions/strategyseasideeconomies
2. Seaside local authorities to each receive a £200,000 grant:
South East - £1 million to 5 South East seaside authorities
Portsmouth (Southsea)
Eastbourne
Hastings
Thanet
(Margate)
Brighton and Hove
South West - £1 million to 5 South West seaside authorities
Plymouth
Cornwall
Torbay
Torridge (Bideford)
West
Somerset (Minehead)
North East - £1.2 million to 6 seaside authorities
Durham (Seaham)
Hartlepool
Northumberland (Newbiggin by
the Sea)
Redcar and Cleveland (Redcar, Saltburn by the
Sea)
South Tyneside (Marsden, South Shields)
Sunderland (Roker)
North West - £0.8 million to 4 seaside authorities
Barrow in Furness Piel Island
Blackpool
Copeland (St
Bees, Seascale, Whitehaven)
Wirral
Yorkshire and Humberside - £0.4 million to two seaside authorities
North East Lincolnshire (Cleethorpes)
Scarborough
East
Midlands - £0.2 million to one local authority
East Lindsey
(Skegness, Mablethorpe)
Eastern Region - £0.4 million to two
local authorities
Great Yarmouth
Tendring (Clacton on Sea)
3. The Coastal Communities Alliance (CCA) recently published
"Coastal Regeneration in English Resorts – 2010"
4. The Coastal Communities Alliance is a virtual network of
coastal regeneration practitioners and organisations who seek to
promote new solutions to the complex and unique range of social
and economic issues in our coastal resorts. Further details at: www.coastalcommunities.co.uk
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