RUN-down conservation areas in a market town and a city centre have been earmarked for £4m of funding to help revitalise them.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced Stockton is set to receive the cash injection – the maximum grant available through their Townscape Heritage Programme fund – as part of its national investment programme.

Other projects in the region in line to receive money in the drive to reverse years of decline by repairing buildings and creating attractive, vibrant places that people want to live, work, visit and invest in, include the Bishopwearmouth conservation area in the western part of Sunderland city centre, which includes some of the city’s finest Victorian and Edwardian buildings.

Sunderland’s Bishopwearmouth conservation area has been awarded a £70,100 development grant to help progress plans to secure full funding of £1,998,900.

In Stockton, the funds will be channelled into part of the town centre conservation area, which features many other buildings of heritage interest and historic significance, some of which have suffered from deterioration.

Stockton Borough Council has received a development grant of £124,200 to look at how it can help to protect and preserve the town centre.

Councillor Nigel Cooke, the authority’s cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: “We know how much residents value and take an interest in Stockton’s heritage so we are really excited about this grant from the HLF. With support from external funding like the National Lottery we are a step closer to bringing back into use a number of heritage buildings which are teeming with historical significance, as well as restoring the appearance and structure of a range of existing old buildings and public realm in the town centre’s Northern Gateway.

"We can also work to further local skills and knowledge to help safeguard and appreciate our heritage and economy for generations to come.

"We’re ambitious about putting heritage at the heart of the wider town centre and this announcement follows a proven track record of reviving our other historic buildings including the Enterprise Arcade, grade II-listed 25 High Street, and 17 Dovecot Street as well as the ongoing restoration of the grade II-listed Globe Theatre.”

Subject to HLF approval of a more detailed application, grant funding will be available by application to property freeholders to bring nine buildings back into use, conserve the structural integrity, architectural features and appearance of a total of 12 buildings, replace modern paving with traditional materials, and create a public park on the site of the former Congregational Church. Work is expected to get under way in spring next year, subject to approval of the detailed application.

A HLF spokesman said: “We’ve been investing money raised through the National Lottery in conservation areas for more than 20 years and we’ve seen first-hand the incredible difference it has made to local communities.”