Regeneration programme gets go ahead for final year

Reporter: Ask Bury
Date online: 17/07/2006

The eight year £5 million East Bury Initiative regeneration programme has been given approval for plans for its final year which will mean more improvements for residents living in East Bury.

Over the past seven years the programme has successfully managed to attract an extra £30 million in funding from additional sources including the local council, lottery funding, Primary Care Trust and local businesses and developers.

The £5 million original funding came from the Government’s Single Regeneration Budget and this year around £400,000 is expected to be spent on activity and improvements. There are three overall projects which have been approved. These include an extension to The Mosses Centre in the form of a "Community Rooms project’. This will see the creation of two new community rooms at the centre which will provide a dedicated resource for local community groups or agencies serving the local community. It will be used by youth clubs, IT classes, for interviews and social events.

The second part of the plan which received approval involves the completion of the new Pimhole Business Park estate road which is at the heart of the Pimhole regeneration programme. The plans will see the transformation of an existing dirt track into a modern estate road that will be securely lit with public footways and new boundary fences.

Finally, there will be an independent evaluation of the East Bury Initiative programme which will be delivered at the end of July and will look at the programme’s achievements, whether it has delivered value for money and how to sustain the strategic partnerships which have been formed and ensure the continuation of the activity.

Councillor Trevor Holt Chairman of East Bury Regeneration Steering Group said: "This has been a highly effective regeneration programme and we hope to ensure its sustainability well into the future. Many organisations have worked tirelessly together to ensure that the people of East Bury really feel a positive impact."