In PLYMOUTH:
Barbican and Plymouth waterfront to get £670,000 bike-friendly revamp
Monday, February 11, 2013
By CARL EVE Herald Reporter
THE city waterfront is to get a £670,000 boost to turn it into a bike friendly attraction.
The aim is to breathe new life into key locations along the shore including Commercial Wharf on the historic Barbican which will become a destination in its own right.
Under the bid, empty fisherman's storage arches will be refurbished to enable small businesses to set up shops or cafes and encourage people to visit a part of the Waterfront they may have just walked past before.
There are also plans to build on Plymouth's growing reputation as a bike-friendly city, by including space for cycle hubs for bike hire – both in Commercial Wharf and the Royal William Yard.
The bid is not just about providing hire space, but also outlines plans to improve cycling paths and racks along the waterfront to link the Barbican, the Hoe, Tinside Pool, Millbay and Royal William Yard.
The £670,400 funding boost follows a bid by Plymouth City Council to the Coastal Communities Fund.
Council leader Tudor Evans, whose portfolio includes economic development, said the council's bid was "pretty imaginative" and the money from the fund highlighted how "creative" the ideas were.
He said: "Plymouth has natural assets that most cities would kill to have.
"This bid plans to bring to life areas on the waterfront that have been too quiet for too long. Commercial Wharf was once a bustling location – it will be again.
"I'm also really excited about the opportunities for cycling tourists. Knowing how popular cycling trails such as the Tarka are, this is a great chance for us to attract families as well as couples and individuals to get on their bikes.
And in TORBAY:
Torbay gets £1.4m from Coastal Communities
Fund
11 February
2013
Torbay is getting more
than £1.4m to help revive its struggling economy.
The money is among
four handouts from the government's Coastal Communities Fund for seaside areas. Other beneficiaries
include South Hams District Council, which will receive £450,347. Lynton and
Barnstaple Railway Trust will get £150,000, while Plymouth City Council will
receive £670,400. In Torbay, which has
the highest unemployment rate in Devon, the money is expected to create 350
jobs.
The Coastal
Communities Fund was created in 2012 with money from the Crown Estates marine
assets.The Crown Estate,
which owns the rights to the sites of fish farms, renewable energy
developments, ports and marinas, earns about £7bn a year which is paid to the
Treasury.
Torbay's share, which
followed a bid by Torbay Development Agency, will support the development of
start-up businesses, social enterprises and an apprenticeship scheme and a new
cycle route around Cockington.
Plymouth also hopes to
build more cycle lanes, linking the Barbican, the Hoe and the Royal William
Yard.
Supporting
economic development projects in coastal and seaside areas
The Coastal
Communities Fund is funded by the government from income from the Crown
Estate’s marine assets. Funding is available in England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland. The Fund is managed in partnership with the Big Lottery
Fund’s ‘BIG Fund’.
For 2013 to 2014 the total budget
available for the Fund in England is £21.7 million. Invitations to bid for
2013 were announced in
April 2013.
On 11 February 2013 the secretary of
state announced the final group of successful bidders in 2012 to 2013. Together
they will:
> create almost
4,000 new jobs directly or indirectly
> support 250 new
business start-ups
> create over 1,500
training places or apprenticeships
> create over 400
volunteering opportunities
> generate an
anticipated extra £15.5 million of wider financial support
The successful bidders [in Devon] are:
> Plymouth City Council, Devon: £670,400 to
support the regeneration of Plymouth’s Waterfront by providing cycle hire hubs
and cycle route improvements and create 4 full-time direct and 52 indirect jobs
> Torbay Council, Torbay, Devon: £1,385,656 to
support the development of start-up and home-based businesses, social
enterprises, an apprenticeship scheme, and new green tourism infrastructure and
create 280 direct and 42 indirect jobs
Which hasn't escaped the notice of the Sidmouth Independent News blog:
With a reference to the bigger picture:
..
.
No comments:
Post a Comment