A BLUEPRINT for the economic revival of a Weardale was finally unveiled last week.
Every resident will be given a summary of the Integrated Rural Development Plan, which has been hailed by a task force chairman John Hamilton as a model for rural regeneration nationwide.
The multi-million pound plan relies heavily on the belief that green power holds the key to a prosperous future and includes plans for an Eco-Disneyland or Centre for Renewable Energy on Lafarge Cement's former Blue Circle site at Eastgate.
Business and industrial developments, a £2.2m Mineral Valleys Project, the reopening of the Weardale Railway, a new tourist attraction at Harperley Prisoner of War Camp, near Wolsingham, a Rural Bureau offering business support and the development of broadband ICT communication links are all key elements in a strategy designed to boost tourism and encourage enterprise.
The document was prepared by Wear Valley District council and submitted to the authority's regeneration committee last night.
Funding would be sought from agencies like One NorthEast, environmental groups, and the European Union. Summaries of the report will be sent out to every home in Weardale.
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