IT'S been hailed as a historic document and panned as 'pie in the sky', but whatever its merits a long awaited regeneration strategy is bound to have a major impact on one of the North-East's most deprived corners.

A Task Force set up to revive remote Weardale, in County Durham, has taken 18 months to produce a multi-million pound plan for reversing the job losses and economic decline which threaten to turn the area into little more than a dormitory dale.

Summaries of the strategy called Renewing Weardale were posted out to 4,000 homes on Monday night and residents were urged to 'make it work' at a high-profile launch today.

The job of convincing the valley's often sceptical residents will fall on the shoulders of the force's new chairman John Hamilton, who will spend the next six weeks meeting with parish councils and other groups, talking to visitors to the dale's three agricultural shows and seeking a teenage perspective from school pupils.

Seven flagship projects are key to the success of the strategy. The most ambitious - and, for some, the most fanciful - is the development of Lafarge Cement's old Blue Circle site at Eastgate into a unique 'Eco Disney' model village featuring hot springs unique in the UK and fuelled by other natural energy sources.

This, says the Task Force, is the single most influential project with the greatest potential to create jobs.

It has already identified likely funding sources including One NorthEast, environmental groups and the European Union as well as private investment.

Chairman John Hamilton said: "The dale stands on the threshold of a new era. During the next ten years the strategy, if accepted by the people who live and work in Weardale, could revolutionise the economy of the dale, creating a vibrant and viable community of which we can all be immensely proud.

"I believe the majority of people in Weardale will accept the challenge and work with the various agencies and authorities, not only because there is no alternative, but because they care passionately about the well being of this special part of England." But John Shuttleworth, Durham County Councillor for Weardale, said: "I am not convinced that everything can work. Some elements are simply pie in the sky.

"They have committed money and we want it invested wisely. If they don't get it right there is no future for our young people."