Pride in Place Programme

The government’s Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £20 million of investment and support over 10 years to selected communities across the country.

Four areas in County Durham have been selected:

• Spennymoor
• Crook North/Tow Law
• Peterlee East
• Stanley South

People who live and work in these areas, along with businesses and community groups, will help decide how the funding should be used to make long-term improvements.

Funding could support a range of local priorities, including:

• regeneration, high streets and heritage
• housing
• work, productivity and skills
• bringing communities together
• community-led projects
• health and wellbeing
• transport
• community safety
• education and opportunity.

The investment should contribute to three broad aims:

• Stronger communities: bringing people together, strengthening local pride and helping people feel safe.
• Thriving places: improving high streets, public spaces and local services.
• Giving communities more control: involving local people in decisions about their area and supporting community-led activity.

Bringing the town centres into Pride in Place

When the Pride in Place areas were originally identified, the town centres of Crook, Peterlee and Stanley were outside, or only partly within, their boundaries.

At the same time, we were working with local communities to develop Strategic Place Plans for those town centres. Through recent consultations, people told us what they liked and did not like about their town centre, how it could be improved and what they wanted for its future.

The Pride in Place boundaries have now been extended, following community engagement and government approval. The expanded boundaries include the town centres and bring the Strategic Place Plan areas into the wider Pride in Place areas.

This is an important opportunity. It means that improvements to the town centres can be considered alongside the needs of their surrounding communities and can benefit from the investment available through Pride in Place.

Building on what you have already told us

We recognise that people have only recently taken part in the Strategic Place Plan consultations. We are not starting again, and the feedback you have already provided will not be lost.

The views collected through those consultations will be brought together with feedback gathered through Pride in Place engagement. This combined information will help the local Neighbourhood Boards understand people’s priorities and develop plans for each area.

However, because the Pride in Place boundaries now cover a larger geographical area, the vision for each area must represent the ambitions of all its communities, including the town centre.

We are therefore asking people to consider a draft vision for the whole expanded Pride in Place area. This is an opportunity to check that it:

• reflects what matters to local people
• recognises the different communities within the expanded boundary
• includes the town centre as an important part of the wider area
• provides the right long-term direction for investment
• does not overlook anything important.

You do not need to repeat everything you told us in the previous consultations. Instead, we would like you to look at the draft vision and tell us whether it brings those ambitions together in the right way.

Have your say on the draft visions

We are now consulting on draft visions in Crook North/Tow Law, Peterlee East and Stanley South. Select an area below to:

• view its expanded boundary
• read about what has happened so far
• consider the draft vision
• take part in the consultation
• find links to information about its Neighbourhood Board and meetings.

What happens next

The responses to this consultation will be considered alongside feedback already received through the Strategic Place Plan consultations and earlier Pride in Place engagement.

The Neighbourhood Boards will use this information to refine their visions and help shape their investment plans.

Find out more

For general information about the programme, including Neighbourhood Boards, meetings and investment plans when available, visit the council’s Economic development - Durham County Council pages.

You can also find out more about the earlier Strategic Place Plan programme and consultations at the same link.

View the previous web page content