A MASSIVE cash injection of £956,000 has been awarded to Blackpool Borough Council to give its streets a new and more people-friendly image.

The Government's new Home Zone Challenge is funding the environmentally-minded scheme in the Talbot and Brunswick areas of North Shore. And it is hoped it will act as a blueprint for similar future developments both in Blackpool and across the country.

Blackpool is among 15 North West winners of the £30 million scheme that was initiated to improve quality of life in densely populated urban areas.

The proposed scheme is to focus in on four streets in the South East corner of the defined area, which runs from Talbot Road to the North, Devonshire Road to the East, Church Street to the South and Cookson Street to the West.

This area contains 215 households and the majority are old terraces with very small front gardens and some flats. The streets were not designed for the current level of car ownership and aims of the scheme include creating a sense of ownership, increasing safety and accessibility for community activities.

Hugh Wignall, project officer for the initiative in Blackpool, said: "Ultimately we are hoping to improve the overall quality of life for people living in this area and we hope it will encourage people to stay in the area.

"We want to return the streets back to the people and to get rid of the dominance of cars. We will be working in conjunction with Urban Solutions, the same team who have successfully transformed parts of Manchester with the Home Zone scheme.

"We are very concerned about what the residents want and will work closely with them. The initial consultation and design process will hopefully get under way before Easter and the whole scheme should be finished by 2004. Blackpool Borough Council is also putting £300,000 towards the scheme from the local transport plan."

Home Zones are residential streets in which the road space is shared between drivers of motor vehicles and other road users, with the wider needs of residents (including people and children who walk and cycle) in mind. The aim is to change the way that streets are used and to improve the quality of life in residential streets by making them places for people, not just for traffic. This is in line with the Government's wider agenda on improving public spaces.