FISHING projects, restoration of natural habitats, improved river crossings and relearning traditional skills are some of the ideas that have been put forward to make more use of the River Tees.

The suggestions have been made as part of a series of consultation events held by environmental regeneration charity, Groundwork NorthEast, for the Tees Corridor project.

The charity is submitting a bid of £2m to the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund a project which will help improve a stretch of the River Tees from Teesmouth to Piercebridge.

The project is hoping to link the individual destinations along the river, so visitors see it as a whole, rather than as a series of attractions.

Anne-Louise Orange, the Stockton river corridor development manager, said: "This has been a very useful exercise.

"We are not going to do things to people. It will be a partnership approach about raising awareness of the River Tees corridor.

"For example, we have found that there is a massive amount of interest in the Transporter Bridge.

"There are people who have come as far away as Essex just to see it.

"But we're not always joining it up, we want people to carry on and see other things on the river.

"Since the industrial decline, interest in the river has grown and we are building on that and making it of more universal significance."

If the grant application is successful, the project would begin in 2013, and will be developed along four themes: Conserving and restoring the built and natural environment; Increasing community participation; Increasing access and learning; Increasing training opportunities.

Other ideas which have been put forward for the project include riverbank restoration, tree maintenance, improving the TeesdaleWay and volunteer and conservation training, including apprenticeships.

Ms Orange said: "We have had a huge response with lots of surveys returned.

"We will be pulling together our draft report before Christmas, having a meeting with all of our partners and getting our heads together to firm-up some proposals."

People can fill in the questionnaire online at surveymonkey.com/s/vxx356l