A £30 million regeneration scheme spearheaded by the South Humber Bank Partnership has won a prestigious national award for excellence and innovation.

The partnership stood out against 150 regeneration schemes from all over the UK to receive the 2007 British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) Award for Best Practice in Regeneration, for a range of projects along the south bank of the Humber Estuary around Barton upon Humber.

The Partnership includes North Lincolnshire Council, the Environment Agency, Natural England, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, English Heritage, Queen Street School Preservation Trust and the Waterside Artists' Co-operative. It has received valuable support from Yorkshire Forward and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Today partnership spokesperson Tim Allen, of North Lincolnshire Council, said: "This award is testament to the enthusiasm, commitment and co-operation of the partners over the past nine years.

"It has not only revitalised buildings and land, but also the hopes and expectations of the people who live and work along the south Humber bank.

"The partnership's work continues to consolidate the area's growing status as a centre of excellence for environmental and cultural tourism and as a vibrant place to live and work."

The BURA awards recognise projects that demonstrate 'best' rather than good practice, which act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the area, have a track record of success and make a positive economic, environmental and social impact on the area. Their aim is to promote pioneering approaches and exemplary practices across the UK.

Since the late 1990s the South Humber Bank Partnership has capitalised on the environmental and cultural assets of the south Humber bank to revive an area once marred by deteriorating buildings, contaminated land, low employment and social exclusion, and threatened with sea level rise.

(GK/JM)