MILLIONS of pounds will soon be up for grabs to community groups across Sedgefield borough to improve their neighbourhood.

Sedgefield Borough Council has set aside £5m from the sale of land to housing developers to create a Local Improvement Programme (Lip).

From April 1, schools, community groups and town and parish councils can apply for Lip grants to regenerate buildings or rundown areas of land.

Schemes that could get the go-ahead include the refurbishment of village halls, the transformation of waste land into a park or the creation of sports facilities.

About £1m will be re- leased every year for the next five years, and because the council has control of the money, there is no im- mediate spending deadline.

A specialist support team will be created to offer advice to groups bidding for a slice of the cash, and town and parish councils have also pledged their support.

Projects must meet criteria set out by the council's cabinet, which include consultation with the local community, predicted benefits to the area, plans to meet future financial needs and value for money.

Andy Palmer, head of strategy and regeneration, said: "To ensure that the projects funded make a really positive impact and to make it easier for us to process, I'd like to see bids for £40,000 or more.

"They could be for a single project or a package of smaller schemes.

"We don't want groups to carry out work for the sake of it but we want to see them think about how the money could be used to tackle some of the key issues in the area, such as improving health, education and employment."

The Lip is the first of two spending plans aimed at pumping capital receipts back into the borough.

Mr Palmer said: "We already have £11m from land sold at Newton Aycliffe and could end up with more than £20m in total, so we want to see the benefit of it across the borough.

"The Lip will fund local regeneration projects and there will be a second scheme for larger programmes such as improvements to housing, industrial estates and town centres.

"It is important to use this money wisely and use it to attract more cash with match funding schemes."

Application packs and more details are available from Andy Coulthard, regeneration officer at the borough council, from April.