RESTORING FOR A BETTER LIFE

Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, recognises that environmental improvements make an essential contribution to the quality of all our lives.

Through its land reclamation projects, which it carries out in partnership with a wide range of organisations, including local authorities, voluntary agencies and the private sector, the Agency restores large areas of contaminated and derelict land to provide clean, attractive locations where people will want to live, work, relax and invest.

As one of the 14 partners in the £10 million Turning the Tide project, One NorthEast has invested in major clean-up programmes which have formed an important part of Durham County and District of Easington Council's strategic programme of reclamation.

At Horden Colliery, up until its closure in 1985, waste from the coal mine was dumped on the adjacent cliff top prior to being pushed into the North Sea. The practice was commonplace for over 100 years among the collieries, which stretched the length of the County's 18km coastline.

One NorthEast invested £3/4 million in the 9-month cleanup which entailed removing the huge black mound, weighing a massive 600,000 tonnes, to reveal the original line of the coast which had not been seen for three generations.

However, it will be several more years before the beach is fully cleaned by the natural action of the sea.

Similarly at Easington Colliery, the Agency invested £1.17 million towards an extensive 18-month programme of works, which comprised the cleaning of the colliery site and the stabilising of the cliff top by removing a heap from the beach below.

The cliff top has now been recontoured and fully landscaped to provide an area of natural grassland, together with public footpaths.

One NorthEast's money was put to a slightly different, but still very environmentally friendly, use when the Agency invested £322,000 towards the Hawthorn to Ryhope cycle track. The track was the first completed section of what is now the 17km Hart to Ryhope route which runs along former rail line from South Hetton to the A19 at Seaton.