Whitehaven and St Annes among Coastal Revival Fund winners
Five schemes in the North West have won a share of the Government’s £1m Coastal Revival Fund to help support restorations and safeguarding of heritage assets in the region’s seaside towns.
The Government launched the latest round of the fund in May this year, and 25 winners have now been announced for the £1m pot, including five in the North West. The South East secured the most projects with eight, with four in the South West, three in Yorkshire & Humber, three in the North East, and two in the East of England.
The projects to secure funding the north west are:
- Arnside Viaduct: Connecting Coastal Communities. This has secured £50,000 for a feasibility study, which will look at installing a new foot-cycle bridge across the Arnside Viaduct as part of a long-distance coastal route from Morecambe to Barrow
- St Annes Pier: £48,100 towards structural repairs to the grade two-listed pier, and a feasibility study towards adding a museum of local history at the site
- Stanley Park Lake, Blackpool: £27,000 for a feasibility study to understand the impact of desilting the lake, which would restore it to its original depth to allow for a wider range of watersports to take place at the site
- Centenary House, Morecambe: £40,000 towards stabilisation works at Centenary House, and the development of a business plan to convert the building into a “community department store”
- Whitehaven lighthouses: £39,700 for a study into the repair and protection of two 19th-century lighthouses that form the entrance to Whitehaven Harbour
Deborah Lamb, deputy chief executive of Historic England, said: “We welcome news of funding to help save at-risk historic buildings and places in our seaside towns and villages, so that they can be brought back into use for the benefit of local communities.
“Restoring local gems can attract investment and help to tackle the deprivation that is a problem in a number of our coastal areas. There are great examples of restoration projects in our seaside towns, often bringing together the private, public, voluntary and social enterprise sectors. This funding will inspire more.”
