A Co Antrim seaside community is to get a new lease of life.

Consultants are now being sought so that Whitehead can develop a 'Blueprint' to identify a range of practical and sustainable initiatives which will help in enhancing village life.

Following extensive consultation for the Generating Rural Opportunities within South Antrim, group (GROW) a Rural Development Strategy produced in 2008, identified that rural villages would benefit from capital grants to 'ensure sustainability'.

After receiving funding, along with Antrim and Newtownabbey, GROW South Antrim was asked to implement the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme 2007 - 2013.

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To facilitate this process a plan of activity is to be produced for each eligible village, namely Toomebridge, Whitehead and Doagh.

Carrickfergus Borough Council is taking the lead for the three councils and are now looking for qualified consultants to facilitate the process of developing the three Village Masterplans.

Each masterplan will contain an action plan, which can be used to identify a range of practical and sustainable initiatives which together will form a flexible blueprint for enhancing village life.

"Tenderers will be expected to demonstrate a combination of creativity with a history of bringing community orientated projects, particularly in the public sector, to completion on time and within cost," the documents explained.

Work undertaken for the masterplans will involve a site assessment of the three villages and identification of "innovative" ideas to address current problems and issues in the villages.

(BMcC/GK)