Objective 2 is the mysterious sounding name for grant money given out by the European Commission (EC) to finance certain types of projects to help local economies rebuild themselves. It is administered by GOSE (Government Office for the South East).
This special feature highlights the progress that's been made with just a few of the many Objective 2 projects planned, underway, and already completed in Thanet, Hastings and Dover.
All these projects are helping put the heart back into Hastings, Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and the Sandwich Corridor.
There has been a close working relationship between GOSE, SEEDA and the local authorities involved (Hastings Borough Council, Dover and Thanet District Councils) and, in an example of the partnership approach, this feature is appearing in two council publications - About Hastings and Thanet Matters.
Facts:
Standing proudly on Margate Harbour is Droit House. This former Customs House is a Grade 11 listed building. Restored using Objective 2 money, Droit House is now the visitor interpretation centre for the iconic Turner Contemporary art gallery, scheduled to open in 2007.
Since its opening, Droit House has featured a programme of exhibitions, events talks and workshops. Visitors figures of almost 23,000 prove the demand for cultural tourism in the town and its education outreach programmes are working with local schools to assist teachers in developing pupils' visual arts skills.
The new gallery will be a landmark, sail-like building rising from the sea bed. Designed by internationally renowned architects Snoheta Spence, it will include 7,500 square feet of gallery space on three floors. The entrance café and shop and administration areas will be on the stone pier.
Adjoining the harbour area is the Old Town, home to a new cultural quarter. In the 18th century the town hall was the civic centre. Now renovated, it houses Margate Museum, Mayor's Parlour and Citizen's Advice Bureau. A wide range of cultural industries are establishing themselves around it. These include Beeping Bush, not-for-profit community arts and digital media organisations, and Pie Music factory which provides music-making opportunities for children and young people. New businesses include Old Market books, a book binding business and bookshop where passerbys can see the owner working at his craft; the Outfitters Gallery, a new exhibition space which sells paintings and pottery; jewellry and fabrics can be found in the Old Town Gallery, while Fayres Fair stocks fair trade goods and exhibitions. These ventures join those that have been long established in the Old Town including pubs, restaurants, a beauty salon, jewllers, an olde worlde tea shop and the fish shop.
One new industry moving in is the Margate Media Centre. Housed in the former Lloyds Bank building, the new centre will provide support and expertise for new and existing businesses in the media industry. The building will offer workspaces a multi-function room with performance and presentation space. It will complement the work of the Kent Innovation Centre and, to date, all spaces have been let. It is scheduled to open in 2004.
Broadstairs relies on its Victorian charm, winding streets, strong literary connections with Dickens and now music with the annual folk festival which has received Objective 2 money to market itself. With its cosy harbour and sandy beach, its Victorian seafront has to remain attractive to visitors. Over £636,000 was invested in a scheme to restore the cliff top gardens to the layout of a Regency and Victorian periods. Improvements were carried out to Balmoral Gardens, Nuckell's Gardens and Victoria Gardens. The Clock Tower and Chandos Gardens shelter were also renovated. One of Britain's top metal workers Jon Mills created the metal arbour for the garden.
Regeneration, restoration and conservation have improved many areas of Ramsgate. Projects have included the new boulevard by Ramsgate Sands - the town's main beach, a new carpark, the Victorian lighting on Military Road which sweeps down to the Royal Harbour and the major regeneration projects which centered on King Street and York Street (both of which lead directly into the town's main shopping area). These once derelict streets have benefited from substantial renovation to provide new shops and accommodation. There's also an impressive new public art installation in the square by the new Visitor Information Centre.
The Net Huts on the Stade, the fishing area of Hastings, date back hundreds of years, to the days when the local corporation charged ground rent according to the size of the area occupied by the building. The canny fishermen built tall buildings that took up a minimum of space on the beach. Although no longer used for storing fishing nets, they are a real feature of Hastings' beach scene, and are very popular with visitors. However, they have been falling into disrepair and Objective 2 money has been used to help restore them to their former glory.
In the middle of Thanet, away from the coastal towns and the hustle of the summer visitor trade, a new economy is growing. Knowledge-based industries and a new higher education sector are developing at Westwood in Broadstairs and they are improving the area's development, learning opportunities and image.
Built on open farmland, the £3. 8 million Kent Innovation Centre was officially opened in 2002 by Science Minister Lord Sainsbury. Impressed by the centre, which provides a base for stimulating and encouraging the development of small to medium-sized technological businesses, Lord Sainsbury said:
"I have been impressed by the centre. It could become a model for other areas. Encouraging the creation and growth of technology and knowledge-based companies is crucial for the regeneration of an area, as these professionals are vital to the future of the UK economy."
To date, 26 companies (17 of which are local) operate from the building, employing 89 people. The businesses are quite diverse, ranging from UVFX (a company pioneering the use of ultra violet imaging which has been utilised by security firms and even Kylie Minogue!) to EIBIS which is a worldwide press communications service supplying news and features to the world's trade and technical press. Next door to the Innovation Centre is a satellite campus for Canterbury Christ Church University. It cost £7.5million to build and it has created opportunities for thousands of young people. The site was expanded recently to include student accommodation. Like Hastings, Thanet previously had no higher education facility. It will accommodate 1300 students within the next five years.
Saga, Grupo Antolin, Cummins are the names of firms who have already invested in our Business Parks. But in the late nineties, Thanet faced a huge obstacle in driving forward economic development - its electricity grid was reaching full capacity.
Determined to tackle the issue, the Council joined forces with GOSE, Dover District Council, Kent County Council and, more recently, the South East Economic Development Agency to address the problem. The solution emerged in the shape of the East Kent Spatial Development Company (EKSDC).
Based in offices at the Innovation Centre, this SEEDA company has developed a ground- breaking approach to "utilities infrastructure" which will help develop industries in the Sandwich corridor.
All over the UK, European funding has helped to rebuild areas through a wide range of activities but it doesn't just concentrate on buildings. There's a human side to the story which can be seen in the work carried out by the Community Development Trust.
Based in Ramsgate, it was established by the Council in 1999. Now a successful registered charity, it has established a range of initiatives which have helped people to develop skills, take up training opportunities and create a wide range of commmunity projects in places with some of the UK's highest deprivation levels. Examples of the Trust's key achievements include: creating over 100 jobs and over 1,000 volunteer places, attracting over £3million of new money into Thanet and working with over 100 local groups.
Successes range from environmental improvement schemes such as the First Step initiative on the Newington Estate, to helping residents get a better financial deal by creating a Credit Union. The trust also supports community resource centres such as the one at 82 Northdown Road, Cliftonville which provides a base for people to learn IT skills, a drop-in centre and works with community groups to make a difference to their environment.
Whilst Hastings & St. Leonards remains very popular with visitors, many hotels and guest houses have been converted into residential accommodation. Others need upgrading. The Space to Stay scheme in Hastings & St. Leonards aims to increase the amount of quality visitor accommodation in the town, and is closely modelled on a scheme piloted in Thanet. A number of hotels and guest houses have already benefited, and many more upgrades are in the pipeline.
The Hastings & Bexhill Task Force has been set up to lead the regeneration of the area. It comprises the South East England Development Agency, the Government Office for the South East, Hastings Borough Council, Rother District Council, East Sussex County Council, English Partnerships and our local MPs.
The task force has already set up a centre of university education in Hastings (based in the old telephone exchange in the town's Havelock Road). This is bringing comprehensive higher education to Hastings for the first time in its history and, at the beginning of February, Education Minister Alan Johnson visited for the official opening, proclaiming it an "outstanding initiative".
In addition, a number of other large projects are now being developed - with Objective 2 money being used to help pay for them.
The Creative Media Centre is being created in Robertson Street, Hastings, and opens in phases from March to December this year. It will provide the latest in office premises, services and technology to help up to 40 start-up firms at the cutting edge of the local creative sector.
Another project is 'Pelham Place' which will be a showcase contemporary development on Hastings seafront, between the Town Centre and the Old Town. It will include a pedestrian boulevard along the seafront, a large civic space for year-round events, high quality commercial premises and a top class 80 bed 4 star hotel. World-renowned architects firm Foster and Partners has been selected to deliver this and is working on some outstanding design plans which will bring a new vibrancy to the seafront, attract investment to the town and generate jobs.
The Station Plaza Scheme is a major development planned for the old Goods Yard site at Hastings Station. It will include business, educational and commercial space around a landscaped plaza, with car parking underneath. It will also feature some housing under the Millennium Communities project. The Station Plaza will be integrated with the new railway station, which is already under construction. Once completed this scheme will provide an impressive gateway to the town for all its visitors and is expected to create over 1,200 new jobs.
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This page last updated: 26/04/2004