Cleethorpes, Rothesay and St Austell will share £4.7million to renovate buildings, create jobs and training and help secure their long-term future as thriving tourist destinations.

The money for these coastal towns is part of a £14m pot announced today for nine Townscape Heritage projects spread across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, creating 14 jobs, more than 2,000 training places and hundreds of volunteering opportunities.

[quote=HLF Chair, Sir Peter Luff]"Townscape Heritage funding has made a huge difference to communities across the UK and this is only possible thanks to National Lottery players."[/quote]

HLF Chair, Sir Peter Luff, said: “Historic town centres are the beating heart of communities, so where they fall into disrepair, the community pays a heavy price. Research* shows that this can be changed and that even small changes - improving shop fronts or restoring architectural features - can make a real difference.

"That's what the Townscape Heritage scheme does so successfully, providing a boost for local economies, with vital employment and training opportunities, start-up spaces for small businesses and enhanced public places for residents and visitors.

"Townscape Heritage funding has made a huge difference to communities across the UK and this is only possible thanks to National Lottery players.”

Reversing the decline

HLF's Townscape Heritage programme has awarded £274m to 300 townscape-focused projects over the past 20 years, funding partnerships between local authorities, businesses and community groups and helping to halt and reverse the decline of some of our best-loved historic townscapes.

In Cleethorpes the funding will be used to ensure that the distinctive architecture is preserved on two important streets connecting the town and the seafront. In Rothesay, the grant will help revitalise some of the properties which visitors first see when arriving by ferry, including the historic Winter Gardens, buildings on the main seafront road and the Victorian public conveniences on the West Pier.

Meanwhile, the St Austell project will rejuvenate the town centre by improving historic buildings and public areas, creating opportunities to deliver skills training to local people.

The full list of projects to be funded

• Worksop - the regeneration of the historic commercial street and forgotten spaces: £1.35m, including £67,800 development funding
• Hartlepool Church Street Conservation Area Revival: £1.1m, including £40,100 development funding
• Padiham - Crafting the Future: £1.4m, including £48,200 development funding
• Pontmorlais Townscape Heritage Quarter - Continuing the Renaissance: £1.2m, including £33,300 development funding
• Rothesay Townscape Heritage, Argyll and Bute: £1.9m, including £109,700 development funding
• St Austell Townscape Heritage Scheme: £934,000, including £34,400 development funding
• Central Cleethorpes Seafront Townscape Heritage Project: £1.9m, including £39,000 development funding
• The Burges Quarter Townscape Initiative in Coventry: £1.9m, including £172,000 development funding
• Armagh City Townscape Heritage Project: £1.9m, including £58,800 development funding

Notes to editors

• *The Townscape Heritage programme was introduced in 2013. A 10-year longitudinal evaluation of its predecessor, the Townscape Heritage Initiative programme, was concluded by Oxford Brookes University in 2010. The evaluation data provided HLF with a good understanding of the factors that are important in determining the success of townscape-focused schemes, and was used in the development of the Townscape Heritage programme
   
• Over the past 20 years, more than 300 townscape-focused projects across the UK have benefited from £274m from HLF’s Townscape Heritage programme. This support has helped create attractive, vibrant places that people want to live, work and invest in. Examples of successful heritage-led high street regeneration projects can be found in: Far Gosford Street in Coventry, St George’s in Great Yarmouth, Bo’ness in Central Lowlands of Scotland, Denbigh in North Wales and Whitechapel in London
   
• Funding awarded through the Townscape Heritage programme encourages partnerships of local organisations to carry out repairs and other essential works to a number of historic buildings, structures or spaces. Grants are available from £100,000 to £2m. The next application deadline is 1 September 2016 with decisions being made in January 2017. Find out more on the Townscape Heritage page
   
• Between 1994 and 2014, HLF provided more than £550m to almost 3,500 projects supporting heritage in coastal communities

Further information

HLF press office: Elaine Cooper, on tel: 020 7591 6143; or Katie Owen on tel: 020 7591 6036.