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Summer 2000 Planning for sustainable tourism Article by Helen Steward, Interreg IIc Project Officer The coastal zone of Liverpool Bay is an area of rich cultural heritage, high natural values and important centres of tourism and economic activity. Existing projects and partnerships, tourism strategies and regional programmes all promote the need for sustainable development Through Agenda 21 this is an international issue and, to further develop a vision for the Merseyside area, coastal projects and local authorities have joined a one-year trans-national planning study to help develop European best practice. The Sefton Coast Management Plan recognises the need to sustain employment and economic activity in the coastal zone, whilst avoiding over-exploitation and the loss of natural values. Coastal managers face quite a challenge in balancing the needs of access and recreation with their desire to protect the unique wildlife of the internationally important coastal area. With funding from the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (see fact box) the Province of North Holland in the Netherlands has formed a partnership of coastal towns willing to share their experience and work towards the development of best practice. Each partner in the project will address: The need to strengthen the individual character of resorts and coastal towns. The need to exploit the contrast between open spaces and busy seaside towns. The need to develop links to cultural and historical values. The need to promote innovation and share best practice. The project gives Sefton Council and the Sefton Coast Management Scheme partners an excellent opportunity to think about the future development of access, transportation, recreation and tourism an the coast. Although the outputs of the project are planning studies these will be used to support bids for, for example, further investment in coastal facilities, the creation of employment and better delivery of an educational programme. The additional funding received for the project will help support and link a number of current projects such as the preparation of a tourism strategy for Sefton and a number of transportation studies. New projects, funded by the project include a comprehensive visitor survey of the coastal area, the drawing up of costed plans for visitor centres and the preparation of an access plan for the coast. Throughout the project the need to ensure sustainable development is paramount. A project team, serving the Merseyside partners, is based at the coastal management offices in Formby. Project officer Helen Steward brings to the project over 10 years of experience of tourism strategy work with a northwest local authority and is supported by technical assistant Paul Wisse. More information on the international project can be found on www.coastaltowns.org The project is funded from the North West Metropolitan Area Programme Interreg IIc which itself is part of the overall European Regional Development Fund. The budget however is not from the Merseyside allocation of Objective I funding, it is from the Dutch allocation of Interreg IIc funds. The Merseyside partners receive 75% funding as an Objective I region. The total value of the Merseyside project is some £200,000. The NWMA is one of the mega-regions of the European Union and involves the member states of UK, Ireland, France. Netherlands. Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany There is a joint operational programme for the community Initiative Interreg IIc to support the basic goal of spatial planning. The international partnership is led by the Province of North Holland and includes the Dutch coastal towns of Bergen, Egmond and Schoorl, the Belgian resort area of Koksijde, the North Holland Dune Reserve, and, in the UK, the coastal resort of Newcastle, County Down, the Isle of Wight and the Merseyside coast. The Merseyside partnership includes the Councils of Sefton and Wirral, the Sefton Coast Management Scheme, the Dee Estuary Strategy English Nature, Merseytravel and the Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions. Home Page - Top www.seftoncoast.org.uk

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