A bid was launched today for cash to breathe new life into Greenstead and east Colchester.

Colchester Council is hoping for a share of the Government's multi-million pound single regeneration budget which aims to boost industry and rejuvenate run-down areas.

A detailed bid does not have to be submitted until next April. The grant would not cover the entire cost of transforming east Colchester into a vibrant, affluent community, but would help kickstart the process.

The money would be used to build two community centres, a health centre at the Hythe, social housing, new nursery and childcare provision and facilities for young people.

A large chunk of the cash would be pumped into training and education schemes to arm the east Colchester community with skills and qualifications.

Colchester Council housing and health promotion manager Gary Telfer said: "This is not something that is going to happen overnight but will help to turn the area around.

"We need to reverse the decline we have witnessed in east Colchester over a number of years."

The borough's head of estates and economic development Steve Clarke said the council has until next week to let the Government know it is planning a bid.

"This is only the first stage, but we need to get a foot in the door," he said.

Mr Clarke did not reveal how much of the budget Colchester Council was hoping to secure, but said it would be a "reasonable sum" over the next seven years.

A draft of the council's expression of interest says cash is needed to combat above average rates of unemployment, crime, educational underachievement, poor health and poverty in St Andrew's and parts of New Town and Harbour wards

It reads: "The impression that Colchester gives as an outwardly prosperous town masks a significant pocket of severe deprivation."

The area also faces an even more grim future following the abandonment of the second stage of the Eastern Approaches Road and the formal closure of the River Colne to commercial shipping.

The borough council is also keen to avoid mistakes made at High Woods, where homes were built without adequate health or leisure facilities being in place.

The report adds: "Social housing already proposed for the Hythe will need to be complemented with facilities for health education and leisure to avoid the pitfalls of the past."

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