Durham City Vision

Durham City Vision is a partnership tasked with delivery of the physical regeneration of Durham City Centre, with a core focus placed upon the establishment of Durham as an economic as well as a cultural hub.

Its objectives are to deliver on-the-ground projects that reflect the long-term vision and strategy set for the city centre by Durham County Council, in partnership with Regional Development Agency One North East.

This partnership is focussed upon maximising the value, and reinforcing the importance of the city centre within the county and wider region. Durham City Vision seeks to achieve this aim by embarking upon a series of projects that:

• Capitalise on existing assets;
• Confront eyesores;
• Target investment into public spaces;
• Make the most of the green environment; and
• Enhance the city centre experience.

Durham City Vision is a partnership between Durham County Council, the North East Chamber of Commerce, Durham University, Durham Cathedral, One North East and the Homes and Communities Agency. Other organisations which lend support and give advice include Visit County Durham, the County Durham Economic Partnership and English Heritage.

The partnership is working to deliver a suite of priority projects identified in the Masterplan for the City Centre published in May 2007 and prioritised by the partnership in February 2008

DCV was established to address the shortcomings in the City’s offering, in terms of retail, leisure and cultural facilities and the quality of its public spaces, as it was well-documented that these were contributing to the poor economic performance in the City of Durham and in particular a shortage of employment opportunities.

Since 2007 the organisation has secured over £27 million of investment for the City centre.

The organisation is made up of an operational team which delivers on-the-ground projects and a membership Board consisting of local leaders and regeneration specialists from Durham and across North East England which oversees their work.

Currently the Board includes:

North East Chamber of Commerce, Durham Chair John Mowbray (DCV Chairman) (Director of Corporate Affairs - Northumbrian Water)
Durham County Council Ian Thompson (DCV Vice-Chairman) (Director of Regeneration & Economic Development)
One North East Neil Graham (Head of Capital Programmes)
Durham Cathedral Reverend Canon Rosalind Brown (Canon Residentiary)
Durham University Paulina Lubacz (Treasurer)
Private Sector Representative Kevan Carrick (Partner – JK Property Consultants)
Durham County Council - Elected Member Neil Foster (Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development)
Homes and Communities Agency Anne Mulroy

Currently the DCV Executive includes:

Harvey Dowdy Director
Kathryn Watson Technical Support Officer
Michael Hurlow Project Manager (Heritage & Design)
Clare James Project Manager (Delivery)
Ross De’Ath Assistant Project Manager (Delivery)
Ann Deary Environment Manager
Seif El Rashidi World Heritage Site Coordinator – shared between DCV / Durham University
Ruth Robson Head of Marketing and Events, Durham Cathedral
Peter Coe Strategic Investment Manager, Durham County council
Alastair Haworth Capital Development Manager One North East
David Robson Senior Property, Specialist Advisor, One North East
Peter Robinson Director of Estates & Buildings, Durham University
Craig Wilson Development Manager, Visit County Durham

The executive is provided with additional support by named officers at Durham County Council who have legal, planning, housing, procurement expertise etc. as and when required.

The organisation has been tasked with delivering physical regeneration projects that will help with four core objectives that reflect the need to enhance the city centre’s economic status and attract investors without compromising its cultural heritage. These are:

Reinforce the position of Durham as a market-town service centre;

• Foster Durham’s knowledge economy;
• Position Durham as a hub for public sector employment; and
• Enhance Durham as a visitor destination.

No.

DCV’s remit is to implement physical regeneration projects that reflect and support the overarching economic strategy for Durham, set by Durham County Council and One North East who regularly consult a wide range of differing statutory bodies, local businesses and local people.

Durham County Council (DCC), North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), One North East (ONE), Durham University and Durham Cathedral are signatories to a Memorandum of Understanding completed in July 2007 which describes the objectives identified above in greater detail.

Durham County Council serves both as Accountable Body and host employer of the majority of the staff (with the exception of the World Heritage Site Coordinator whose post is hosted by Durham University). Consequently, DCV is subject not only to DCC’s rigorous internal audit procedures and protocols but is also required to adhere to all other DCC policies.

Furthermore, in addition to the scrutiny of the overall programme by DCC and ONE as core funding partners, individual projects are monitored by a variety of grant awarding bodies in the usual way.

DCV is also reviewed by an independent body every 2- 3 years. Most recently an interim review of DCV conducted by the European Institute for Urban Affairs in 2009 concluded that this informal partnership has proved highly effective, is fit for purpose and that the Board, Executive and sub-structures have functioned well. To view the interim review click here

The next interim review will be conducted in May 2010.

The core costs of the organisation are principally funded by the Regional Development Agency One North East and Durham County Council. Projects are funded by partners, private investment and the public sector.

The DCV City Centre Masterplan was evaluated by SQW Consulting in 2008 to establish which of the physical regeneration projects identified would offer best value for money and was most likely to improve the economic performance of the City. The Board then undertook a project prioritisation exercise which identified a number of projects for immediate action during the period 2008 – 2012, some of which have now been completed while others are in still in development. These include:

• Durham Station steps – new build (completed);
• Former Ice Rink (Freemans Reach) – strategic acquisition (completed);
• North Road (bus station frontage) – strategic acquisition (completed);
• Old Shire Hall – strategic acquisition (completed);
• The Heart of the City: Market Place & Vennels – public realm improvements;
• World Heritage Site Visitor Centre, Owengate – building restoration / creation of a new facility;
• Riverbanks Gardens project – woodland management, access and restoration of landscape and castle walls; and
• Claypath and Milburngate House – development design briefs.

DCV has, in previous years, undertaken extensive public consultation regarding broad strategic issues, in particular with a group known as the "Durham Voices" during 2005 - 2007.  This led to the publication of the Durham City Centre Masterplan in 2007.  Since then, DCV has conducted a number of public consultations in relation to individual projects prioritised by the DCV Board and will continue to do so in the future in collaboration with Durham County Council and other partners.

DCV will continue to ensure public consultation in relation to major projects through its partners and the newly formed Area Action Partnership (AAP).  DCV will work with the AAP as it develops its own strategic role. 

When the operational team was first established in June 2007 they were made responsible not only for physical regeneration projects but also for delivering events. The DCV Events team took charge of a number of successful events across the City which included the ‘Streets of…’ series and Enlightenment in November 2008.

The County Council has now taken the lead on events in partnership with Visit County Durham to allow DCV to focus purely on the physical regeneration of the city.