Cliftonville renewal projects

Two major projects by Thanet District Council’s Renewal Area team to improve the appearance of the area have been completed in Cliftonville West.

Work by the Council’s Environmental Action Programme to illuminate St. Paul’s Church in Northdown Road was originally suggested by local people and ward members and has been funded with £20,000 from the Renewal Area. Spotlights and energy efficient floodlights have been installed to highlight the features of the building and provide additional lighting in a previously dark area that had been prone to incidents of anti-social behaviour.

Sixteen hanging basket trees have also been installed by the Environment Action Programme’s Rapid Response Team along Northdown Road and will be filled with flowers from late May or early June. The basket trees have been funded by the Renewal Area team and the flowers have been funded by Safer Stronger Communities Fund, after the original idea was put forward by the Cliftonville Partnership.

Renewal Manager Carla Wenham said: “Both these projects were suggested to us by the local community as ways of improving the appearance of the area. The work of the Renewal Area team is very much led by local people. We’re here to deliver improvements in Cliftonville West, but we need to ensure that those improvements are exactly what residents want. That’s why our team spends so much time meeting with local people and discussing their vision for the area, so that we can then deliver it. These two schemes are another excellent example of that process.”