Consultation on a long term plan for Spennymoor

Background

In October 2023, the Government's Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities announced a £1.1 billion programme to help regenerate 55 towns across the United Kingdom through their new Long-Term Plan for Towns programme. The programme aims to respond to economic, social, and environmental challenges and support lasting growth, improved infrastructure, and create thriving communities in towns across the United Kingdom.

This programme fits closely with our efforts to support the transformation of communities across County Durham through our Towns and Villages programme and more recently, the approach to regeneration in our County Durham Partnership: Inclusive Economic Strategy and Delivery Plan. It focuses on improvements to:

• high streets, heritage and regeneration
• transport and connectivity
• safety and security

Find out more about the Long-Term Plan for Towns (LTPT) programme funding.

Spennymoor long term town plan

Spennymoor has been chosen as one of the towns to benefit and is set to receive £20 million of government funding over the next 10 years. This investment provides an opportunity to carry on regenerating the town and build on our recent £7.5 million of investment. A Town Board will be set up by 1 April 2024 and will be led by an independent Chair. The Board will need to develop a vision and a town plan.

The map below shows the boundary chosen for the investment by the government. This area covers from the Thinford and Durham gate area in the north of the town and continues to Middlestone Moor in the south of the town, and also incorporates Tudhoe and the Merrington Lane area.

What we are consulting on now

To kick-start this work, we are gathering views about Spennymoor. We are keen to hear about your priorities for the town, and want to know:

• your thoughts on the town at the moment, what do you appreciate or like about the town
• what you might dislike about the town and areas that you think could be improved

By gaining an understanding of what you and communities feel about the town, we can move forward and design a town plan that will bring about the biggest difference and long-term success for Spennymoor.

Have your say

What you told us

We attended 11 public events in Spennymoor, including a family fun day where we spoke to 130 people, and we talked to people locally, out and about in the town. We went to local primary and secondary schools and spoke to over 1,000 pupils. We went to businesses in the town and met with a number of local organisations including Spennymoor Town FC, South Durham Enterprise, Spennymoor Youth and Community Association and Livin Housing. We also separately received over 250 responses to our online survey. 

Through these conversations and survey feedback, we learned what people like and do not like about Spennymoor. This covered a range of areas for improvement from transport, walking and cycling, safety and security and high streets, heritage and regeneration. We also learned how people would like to spend the £20 million government funding to resolve these issues. 

Spennymoor Long Term Plan – Community Engagement Report (PDF) [477KB]

Your feedback will be reviewed and considered by the Town Board. They will use this to start to develop a draft long-term plan and vision for Spennymoor.

What happens next

We plan to engage and consult with you as we design the final long-term town plan, which will be produced by Summer 2024. The plan will be submitted to Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities for assessment, so that the first year of funding can be released.

Find out what's happening now on Spennymoor - Long Term Plan for Towns (LTPT) programme.