AN initiative to breathe new life into Darlington town centre is to be extended after a successful first three years.

The Town Centre Management Initiative was launched in 1998 in a partnership between Darlington Borough Council and the private sector.

Headed by town centre manager Louise Payne, the initiative has been hailed as "very successful" in a report to Thursday's meeting of the town centre forum.

In the report, the borough council's director of development and environment, John Buxton, calls for the public and private sectors to continue their support for Mrs Payne's role, and to carry out a major review of the scheme to help continue the good work.

The initiative was set up to run until December, but can be extended to March 2002 subject to pledged private sector support.

The forum will be told that the extra time could be used to carry out the review, which would include drawing up a new business plan, and considering the forum's future role, funding, format and priorities.

Businesses have paid between £50 and £3,000 a year to the initiative. During the past two years, local companies have invested more than £200,000 in cash or goods in the scheme.

Mr Buxton's report suggests three possible options for future funding of the scheme, including the manager's post.

These are a three or five-year contract based on 50 per cent private and 50 per cent public funding, a permanent contract with the council with private sector contributions towards projects, or a town centre membership scheme.

In the last case, the manager would be employed on a permanent or fixed-term contract and private sector contributions would come via an annual subscription.

Council leader Councillor John Williams said: "The town centre management initiative has been highly successful over the past three years in tackling many of the issues facing the town centre.

"The role of the town centre manager has helped to further progress the work of the group. We have now reached a point where we need to take stock of our achievements so far and plan for the future success of the initiative."