Regeneration Strategies
- Large-scale developments are less common in rural areas; however, over recent years these areas have come under pressure from:
- Housing developers
- Tourists
- City-dwellers seeking a country life
- Some decisions on rural regeneration and rebranding strategies generate more conflict within local communities than others, such as:
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- Renewable energy
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- Developments, such as wind and solar farms, often lead to NIMBYism e.g. local people are for renewable energy but don’t want wind turbines behind their house
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- Housing developments
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- Local residents often oppose housing developments, despite knowing more houses are needed:
- Air and noise pollution created during construction
- The extra traffic congestion created on the roads
- Developers attempt to dismiss the concerns of existing residents by calling them NIMBYs
- Local residents often oppose housing developments, despite knowing more houses are needed:
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- Derelict land
- Local people in rural areas welcome nature establishing itself in former industrial sites e.g. quarry pits
- Regeneration plans seeking to build on these rural brownfield sites are often met with negative responses from local residents
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- Conservation
- The conservation of natural areas is often an important element of regeneration schemes for locals
- There is an expectation that regeneration plans should have a negligible impact on local wildlife and ecosystems.
- Local people and conservation groups (e.g. Wildlife Trust, The National Trust) will not support projects which fail to do this
Regeneration along the North Antrim coast
Impacts of regeneration at the Giant’s Causeway
Regeneration Along the North Antrim Coast
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Background |
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The Giant’s causeway visitor centre |
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Criteria of success for different stakeholders |
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Conflict created via proposed golf course |
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Worked example
With reference to a named example, explain the limitations of the strategies used to regenerate a rural place.
[6 marks]
- The question asks for a rural location, not an urban location
- To access Level 3, a named example must be included
- Better answers will include two example of regeneration strategies used in the named location
Answer:
Regeneration strategies may involve economic, social and environmental aims and it is difficult to meet all of these in one strategy. This results in limitations for different stakeholders, depending on their social and economic characteristics, and their level of environmental concerns. The North Antrim coast, in Northern Ireland, is famous for the Giant’s Causeway, which is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. Due to its importance, there are a huge number of stakeholders involved in any development decisions; and this can lead to conflict. Plans to develop a £100 million golf resort, called Bushmills Dunes Golf Resort and Spa at Runkerry (500 metres from the Heritage Site) created conflict. The National Trust believed that the golf course, with its 120-bedroomed hotel and 70 lodges, would impact on the distinctive landscape, despite the 360 jobs it would create in the area. The golf course development failed to materialise due to financial issues.
The Giant’s Causeway is also a popular tourist attraction, attracting more than 1 million visitors per year. As a result, The National Trust wanted to create a flagship visitors’ centre, after the previous one burnt down. The new visitors’ centre opened in 2012, creating a further 75 full-time jobs. However, the majority of the local community gain very little from living in this tourist honeypot and experience a variety of challenges. Their access to the site, which previous generations have had access to for thousands of years, is restricted by the National Trust, who now manage the land. The money spent on parking at the visitors’ centre and in the visitors’ centre goes back to the National Trust, rather than the community. The local residents feel unsafe on the roads due to the volume of traffic, international tourists driving on the wrong side of the road and coaches driving too fast. So, despite the economic benefits to Moyle District Council and the National Trust, living so close to a World Heritage Site is limiting the quality of life of local communities.
