£500k boost for seaside tourism regeneration scheme
Margate and the Isle of Thanet are to benefit from a new £500,000 three-year tourism regeneration programme by English Heritage and Arts Council England.
It is hoped that MACH (Margate Arts, Creativity, Heritage) which also includes Thanet District Council as a partner and is hosted by Margate Renewal Partnership, will leverage similar investment from other sources.
Margate is one of the resorts hit hardest by the decline of the UK tourism trade. A survey in December, last year, showed it had the highest proportion of empty shops in the country.
However, the world-class Turner Contemporary art gallery opens next year and Dreamland - the UK's first heritage amusement park - should follow in 2012.
The new money from MACH aims to complement these flagship schemes. Arts Council England's Stephanie Fuller said: "We know the arts is one of the fastest growing parts of our economy and that's why we believe successful regeneration has the arts at its core.
"Some of the UK's most celebrated artists have shaped Margate's colourful history and, with the Turner Contemporary opening next year, this project reflects our belief that arts and heritage have an important role to play in breathing new life into its future."
Source: Businessforkent.co.uk
