Description: Crook has a population of approximately 15,000 people and there are high levels of unemployment, resulting from the changing economic status of the town. Factory space continues to be under-used and there has been a steady growth in new housing, indicating a small but definite movement towards the town becoming primarily residential. Despite the fact that no pits have been operation since 1960, many of the people who have lived in the town all their lives still regard Crook as a mining town. Contrary to the national trends in shopping habits, the main street still retains a number of small independent shops, dating form the 1950s and 1960s, albeit on a steadily reducing scale.

Issue: In 1997, Wear Valley District Council commissioned the Crook Regeneration Strategy, which identified the poor condition of the public realm and commercial properties as major problems.

Strategy: The Crook Regeneration Strategy recommended a comprehensive scheme of environmental improvements and a grant aided building face-lift scheme. The Historic Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS), which was awarded in 1999, is an integral part of the regeneration strategy, and aims to address these issues, with a major focus on the public realm improvements to the Market Place and Hope street and a commercial buildings improvements scheme.An English Heritage grant of £104,864 levered £299,659 of additional public and private funding.

Outcome: The scheme is currently under way and has already made a number of significant improvements. For example, Market Place has been transformed from a rough tarmac car park to an attractive paved area, which has helped to promote a 100% increase in the number of market traders at the weekly market. This has a significant impact on the vitality of the town and has attracted customers to other shops in the vicinity. The pilot shopfront improvements grant scheme has served a useful purpose in raising awareness amongst the local business community. Active promotion and close liaison with local businesses has enabled over 40 properties to benefit from grant aid towards comprehensive improvement schemes. Eleven homes were improved and eight jobs were created. The overall image of the town has been significantly improved and the condition of individual properties assured for several years. The HERS is linked to a Durham county-wide initiative, which has identified over ten towns-including Crook-as major targeted for investment.