Seaside towns win regeneration cash

Blackpool, Dover and Torbay are to receive £4m each to spend revamping their cultural attractions, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced today.

Under a scheme announced last November called Sea Change, run-down seaside resort towns in the UK stand to receive a total of £45m over the next three years, in an attempt to encourage the economic regeneration of coastal areas.

The programme is being lead by the Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment, with design consultancies across the country standing to benefit from the initiative.

Besides the handful of towns due to receive full funding, smaller grants of £200 000 to £1m are also available to up to 12 towns.

‘Investment in design and culture can trigger the regeneration that England’s much-loved seaside resorts need,’ says Cabe chairman, Sir John Sorrell.

Culture and tourism minister Margaret Hodge adds, ‘Our objective is to have a spread across all coastal areas. There have been discussions with a number of east coast resorts including Great Yarmouth, which have some exciting proposals we hope will develop into projects the programme can support.’