All systems go for �5.3m scheme
A MAJOR project to transform run down areas in Yarmouth could start within two months after the town scooped �5.3m of regeneration funding last night.The funding, which was officially announced yesterday, will see �3.
A MAJOR project to transform run down areas in Yarmouth could start within two months after the town scooped �5.3m of regeneration funding last night.
The funding, which was officially announced yesterday, will see �3.4m pumped into improving housing and buying and revamping empty homes in Southtown, one of the borough's most deprived areas.
Some of the homes still need repairs after the 1953 floods.
The rest of the government grant will be used to replace run down and boarded up hotels and guests houses in Camperdown and Nelson Road South with new homes and rejuvenated tourist accommodation.
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Yarmouth Borough Council already knew it had secured the funding last December, but confirmed last night that some of the work to breathe fresh life in to the town could start within two months.
The large scale funding is also a feather in Yarmouth's cap as it managed to secure one fifth of the �25m East of England housing improvement and energy efficiency funds available.
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Residents in Camperdown, Nelson Road South and Southtown will now be asked their views on what the two schemes should achieve.
Mike Burns, the borough council's head of community services, said: “We have been prepared for along while but now we have finally got the funding it is a case of all systems go.
“This is great news for Yarmouth and we are particularly pleased to have secured so much funding.”
The government money will be used to fund basic house repairs in Southtown and bring homes in the area up to a decent standard.
It is also hoped that 27 empty Southtown properties could also be purchased.
The work on transforming Camperdown and Nelson Road South run down guest houses and hotels follows the successful secondary holiday area regeneration �4.5m project.
Yarmouth secured the funding after the East of England Regional Assembly put forward a list of 16 local authorities to the government.
Susan Baker, chairman of the assembly's housing and sustainable communities panel, said: “Reducing the amount of homes that are in disrepair will lead to communities where people are proud to live - making them more likely to stay there and contribute to the local economy.”
Other local authorities to secure the regional housing grant were St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Decent Homes Plus scheme, Mid Suffolk District Council's long vacancy property project, Suffolk Coastal District Council's home energy efficiency scheme and Fenland District Council's wall insulation project.
