Over the past year or so we have stepped up our campaign, meeting on several occasions with officers from the Durham Heritage Coast Partnership, to consider the best way to achieve our aims. Those efforts began to come to a head last year when we saw progress on a couple of funding initiatives aimed at improving access to the coast (please see posts dated Sunday 3 April 2017, Thursday 13 April 2017 & Saturday 4 November 2017 for background information on the Heritage Lottery Funded Seascape Project and the Crimdon Improvement Project).
Having met again recently with the Heritage Coast manager we are pleased to announce that a further funding bid and planning application are being prepared which together, if approved by the government and local authority respectively, could lead to improved facilities on the coast at Crimdon, including a new cafeteria and toilet block. The Heritage Coast manager has issued the following statement to promote the latest developments:
Crimdon Improvement Project
The government recently announced that their Coastal Communities Fund is now open for applications and has £40 million available for spend from April 2019 to end of March 2021.
This is for projects over £50,000 that will ultimately lead to regeneration and economic growth whilst directly or indirectly safeguarding and creating sustainable jobs. Crimdon has been lacking toilet and other visitor facilities for over a decade and the County Council with the Heritage Coast Partnership are developing a funding bid that, if successful, will not only provide visitor facilities but seeks to improve the quality of the whole site, including the dene.
This is a one-off opportunity that Crimdon deserves given its popularity, history and fantastic natural environment. As part of the process an application for planning consent is required, this is likely to be submitted during April.