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With less than 40% of the people that live in Billingham using its town centre, and the Forum's original 25 year life expectancy now approaching half a century, now is the time for a mass revamp of the area, as Kevin Pitt explains:

"One of the major projects going on in the Billingham area is with the Forum, which is subject to a private finance bid with the Government, and we hope they will back a major scheme to rebuild the Forum which will take around 拢25m.

Kevin Pitt of the Billingham Partnership

"The other big project is the town centre. Halladale have purchased the lease for the centre and are planning a total re-build that will take until 2012.

"We will have problems because the area will be a building site during the time so it will get slightly worse before it gets better, but by 2012 we should have a new town centre.

"Less than 40% of the people of Billingham actually come and shop in the town centre, and for a community of 35,000 that isn't good enough, so we need to develop it into a place that people are proud to come and shop here, and that's what we're working on.

"As other town centres have improved, Billingham has decayed, so if the area is going to stand out it has to have facilities that people actually want to come and use.

"Everyone is frustrated. People want to see a big change and it can't happen quickly enough, they see shops closing down and I think some people think this is going to happen tomorrow, but come back in 2012 and hopefully Billingham will be a place that people want to come to, but it's going to take time."

You can hear more from Kevin and see footage of Billingham by clicking on the link above.