Grant Information and Funding Sources

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Grant Information and Funding Sources
Grant Information and Funding Sources

Waterway Regeneration Fund
transforming waterways across the East Midlands

emda’s £6.5m Waterway Regeneration Fund (WRF) is transforming the region’s waterways and helping to unlock their economic potential.
Over 20 projects are now underway, including waterway transport schemes, restoration projects and riverside mixed-use developments. Grants were awarded in 2007/08 of up to £500,000 to encourage waterway regeneration and many of the supported schemes are now reaching completion or making good progress.
emda’s WRF is the first inland waterway related programme to be supported by any RDA in the UK. Supported waterways projects include:

u     Willington, South Derbyshire - creating one of the largest inland marinas in Europe. Plans for an archaeological visitor centre and replica Viking ship, based on findings on site, are now being explored by the site owners.
u     Peak Forest Canal – following emda redevelopment, Derbyshire County Council will fund improvements along the remainder of the canal section in the region, with partners outside the East Midlands addressing rundown sections all the way to Manchester.
u     Chesterfield – the waterside site development will include a residential-led scheme also containing office, employment and leisure buildings as well as development of the water basin. The project will open up an unused river footpath on the Trans Pennine Trail.
u     The Loughborough Waterways Regeneration project – emda has provided a £170,000 grant towards the completion of a feasibility study to create a regeneration masterplan for the sough Loughborough area.
u     River Sour and Grand Union Canal – emda has committed £72,000 towards the production of a development plan to provide an integrated development strategy to maximise the economic and social potential of the canal.
u     Trent River Park – emda has contributed £83,100 to commission an updated and refreshed masterplan, providing a holistic and practical vision of the development of the area.
u     The Trent Valley Way – emda has provided £50,000 towards its development as a tourist destination. The ‘Way’ is a long distance footpath along the River Trent – from its source in Staffordshire to its union with the Humber Estuary in North Lincolnshire.
u     Workshop Canal Development Programme – emda’s £50,000 contribution has enabled a feasibility study, analysis of the different options and cost studies to explore the development of six key waterside sites. Uses could include businesses, retail, residential and leisure facilities.
u     Mansfield Riverside Renaissance Project – emda’s £158,000 grant will help address contamination and under-use along the River Maun to assist sustainable economic development. Long-term benefits may include a hotel for tourists and business people and a long stay multi-storey car park.
u     River Trent Water Freight – a £90,000 emda grant has funded a feasibility study and action plan for measures to support the expansion of freight transport on the River Trent, which could help reduce traffic on the region’s roads.
u     Northampton town centre – emda has funded the production of a masterplan to ensure future regeneration connected with the River Nene corridor.
u     The Daventry waterspace project – is ongoing and will support development of a town centre site for commercial, residential and leisure use, including a canal marina.
u     The Lincolnshire Fens Waterways Link – comprising refurbishment works, new moorings, cycle routes and footpaths and a large barrier development, will open up 240km of waterways. emda has contributed £375,000 towards the technical scoping works for this important project.

£5M Fund to regenerate the region’s waterways
12/06/2007 East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is to breathe new life into the region’s waterways by launching a Waterway Regeneration Fund.
The funding period is expected to last for three years and grants will be available up to the value of £500,000 to help encourage waterway regeneration schemes.
Research, commissioned by emda, into the impact and importance of waterways across the East Midlands, found that inland waterways projects can significantly benefit an area’s economy.
The study into inland waterways, which was carried out by Ecotec Consulting on behalf of emda, found major regeneration benefits are associated with waterway developments, such as:

Employment impacts – creation of new job opportunities in the short term from the construction during the regeneration and in the long term from new businesses created
Property impacts – regenerated areas along waterways stimulate commercial and residential markets
Environmental impacts – improving waterway environment by bringing forward previously vacant and underused sites which generates improved quality of life, tourism and green transport options

Previous waterway schemes have helped many urban and rural locations across the region turn themselves from areas characteristic of dereliction and decay into places where businesses actively want to be located and people want to live.
Examples of large waterside projects in the East Midlands include a 100 acre £1.4 billion investment in Nottingham's riverside, an 18 km waterfront regeneration scheme in Leicester which will create over 3,000 new homes and Derby's riverside project that will include a high quality hotel, office and residential development.
The Invitation to Apply for Grant Funding (IAGF) from emda aims to deliver long term regeneration benefits for the East Midlands for schemes located near waterways. The criteria for funding must fall under one of the five schemes:

Waterways destination projects – which relate to tourism where restoration will lead to increased use of the waterway and its surroundings

Restoration projects – which remediate redundant or underused buildings next to waterways for employment or commercial uses

Land remediation projects – the preparation of land next to water in order to open it up for employment uses

Large scale project development – work required to help unlock the potential of large scale waterway projects

Waterway transport schemes – develop an alternative transport route or mode based around one of the region’s inland waterway corridors to help sustain economic competitiveness of green water transport
Anthony Payne, Land and Development Manager at emda said: “Waterways present a unique opportunity to improve the environment and regenerate run down areas – transforming them into successful, flourishing places which attract our communities and unlock the value of the sites.
“Some of the most successful and innovative regeneration projects in the UK are focused on waterfronts and the benefits that stem from physical developments along locations including rivers, canal, marinas or docks are well proven. The impact of waterway regeneration stretches beyond the immediate environmental impacts of the waterside and often stimulates wider economic and social benefits on a wide scale. This funding opportunity will help towards achieving the vision for the East Midlands to become a flourishing region by 2020 as stated in the Regional Economic Strategy.”
The Waterway Regeneration Fund will open for expressions of interest from 12th June to 31st July 2007 for the first year. Any organisation interested in applying, or who would like more information, should contact Georgina Walters McLeod at emda on 0115 9888 484 or visit www.emda.org.uk/waterwayfund