LOCAL eyesores have been in the news a great deal lately. And there are certainly plenty of them - something our readers have not been slow to point out.
But in the eagerness to highlight the 'grot spots', it's all too easy to ignore the many positive things that are going on. Look closely, and right across the area there are encouraging signs of improvement.
Among the leaders in this is regenerat
ion agency Meden Valley Making Places, established five years ago to tackle housing decline in eight former mining communities in North Nottinghamshire and North east Derbyshire.
These are places that have suffered more than most from the pit closures, and have been saddled with the unwelcome, and largely underestimated legacy of abandoned properties.
Now work is well underway to transform a number of areas that appeared to be in terminal decline, with a view to making them places people will clamour to move into rather than move out of.
The latest, is a £10million, three-year scheme that will transform rundown parts of Pleasley by replacing 50 dilapidated properties and building more than 70 new homes.
Added together, these projects are having a much bigger impact than could have been envisaged by these communities when the plans were first announced.
There's still much to be done before the words 'grot spots' cease to have any relevance. But the changes for the better are now clearly there for all to see and should be celebrated.
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