RESIDENTS of a County Durham coastal village are being urged to have their say on an upcoming bid for £20 million in Levelling Up funds aimed at transforming the area. 

Durham County Council will be holding a series of public consultations to gather views on plans to revive the fortunes Horden. 

The consultation follows ongoing work with residents, where the council sought feedback on a number of options to tackle housing issues in the Numbered Streets in Horden.

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Consultation sessions were well-attended, and feedback from residents showed the preferred option was for the council to purchase and demolish the existing properties along with Cotsford Primary and Yohden Primary schools and replace them with new homes and an education hub.

Following the consultation, the council committed £6 million towards this work. This included £4.5 million of the council’s Towns and Villages funding, which is the biggest single allocation of the fund anywhere in the county.

Since then, the council has been developing a strategy on how the funding should be used which is expected to be complete and shared with the public in the autumn.

In the meantime, another opportunity to attract funding has emerged through the government’s Levelling Up Fund.

Levelling Up projects for the five constituencies in County Durham that have not yet submitted bids will be considered by the council’s Cabinet in June.

For the Easington constituency, Cabinet will be asked to consider seeking Levelling Up funding for the regeneration of Horden where, if approved, a £20m Levelling Up bid will be made.

While the Levelling Up criteria means the council cannot seek funding solely for the improvements within the Numbered Streets, the council has developed a proposal which, if successful, will deliver a first phase of wider improvements in Horden.

These improvements will include creating two housing sites that will help provide high standard, affordable accommodation in the area.

It will also allow the council to deliver enhanced community facilities, and improve connectivity to Peterlee, the train station, and the heritage coast.

Cllr James Rowlandson, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for resources, investment, and assets, said: “We have received a lot of helpful feedback so far on what residents would like to see changed or improved in their local area.

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"We have used this feedback to help develop a strategy for phased work in the area, supported by our Towns and Villages funding, which we hope will be boosted further by potential external funding from the government’s Levelling Up scheme.

“This next round of consultations will help to shape the upcoming bid for external funding which, if successful, will enable us to progress the planned works and deliver on the changes residents would like to see in the area.”

The Levelling Up bid will be submitted in July 2022 and the outcome is expected to be announced in the autumn.

To help develop the bid and the wider masterplan, the council is holding a series of consultation sessions to gather residents’ views.

The events will consist of two drop-in sessions on: • Tuesday 31 May at 3pm and 5pm – One Point Family Centre • Tuesday 7 June at 10am and 12pm – One Point Family Centre An online consultation is also live, where people can give their views.

Residents have until Friday 10 June to make any comments, and can do this by attending one of the sessions, completing a survey online at www.durham.gov.uk/consultation or by emailing the project team at hordenmasterplan@durham.gov.uk.

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