PEOPLE in the most disadvantaged areas of Darlington are being given a say on how to regenerate their neighbourhoods.

Consultant Martin Woods has been employed by Darlington Borough Council as part of its neighbourhood renewal strategy.

He will draw up a report on what residents of 11 deprived areas in the town think should be done to improve them.

The wards involved are Northgate, Bank Top, Central, Eastbourne, Cockerton West, Lascelles, Park East, Haughton East, Lingfield, North Road and Cockerton East.

The information gathered will then form a list of potential regeneration schemes and the basis for securing funding for them.

Sue Davidson told members of Skerne Park Community Partnership: "Darlington is so well-off as a town as a whole, we miss out on a lot of funding, despite having pockets of deprivation. We are up against places like Middlesbrough, Stockton and Hartlepool, which always win out when it comes to the big money."

Mr Woods told members of the partnership that a variety of things would be done to find out what local people feel their areas need, by asking them what is good about their area, what is bad about it, and what they think needs to be done to improve it.

This will be done by holding focus groups, walking around the areas with local people to discuss their problems, working with school pupils and holding drop-in sessions, and encouraging residents to complete questionnaires.

He said: "I do not want to set the agendas for people, but for example, maybe people will want to talk about education, crime, play area provision - anything they feel is an issue.

"We want to pull together an action plan for the area to look at short, medium and long-term objectives," he said.

A council spokesman added: "The aim is to get together a sort of wish list for each of the areas, and then seek funding from relevant bodies."

The project will be completed in the New Year so Mr Woods can present the findings to the council by mid-March.

For more information about the project, contact the council's community partnership section on (01325) 388698.