Buckets of money to be poured into the Harbour

Our Council put a lot of time and effort into this bid to get a heap of European funding that will boost Whitstable's tourism by enhancing its museum offering and information centre.

Excellent. Well done.

Now it's Herne Bay's turn.​

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Harbour funding bid gets green light

A city council bid for European funding for Whitstable Harbour has been successful.

The money is coming from the European Union Interreg IVa programme, for the partnerships bid Fostering Long Term Initiatives in Ports. The project sees the council working with a number of other small and medium sized ports including Dieppe, Le Havre, Newhaven and Torbay on initiatives that will improve performance, trade, efficiency and the local economy.

At Whitstable, the funding will go towards studies and models for the redevelopment of redundant buildings, a feasibility study for the development of a maritime heritage and information centre, studies into improved water and energy efficiency and cross border training and capacity building into innovative port financing.

Half of the money for the €600,000 project comes from the European Interreg fund, with the city council providing match funding for the other half.

The council’s Deputy Head of Culture and Enterprise, Dawn Hudd, said:

“Naturally we are very pleased that the bid was successful and are looking forward to working with our partners on both sides of the channel. We can all learn much from each other as we build up close links over the next few years. There is great potential for revamping some areas of the harbour, such as through the redevelopment of the south quay shed. But we want to make it clear that we will be working with local people throughout the process and making sure there is full public consultation on any development plans. We know how passionate the town’s residents are about their harbour.”

CCC 19th Apr 2013