THE Government is backing a major business regeneration programme for parts of East Sussex.

Planning and regeneration minister Lord Falconer met leaders of the Hastings and Rother Task Force to discuss their ideas and funding requirements for growth.

Lord Falconer said he was impressed with the contribution from the business community and with the involvement of the South-East England Development Agency (Seeda).

A five-point plan has been drawn up, setting out proposals for tackling the serious problems of economic decline and social exclusion in the area.

The plan includes:

*Extra university provision and improvements in the primary/secondary school and further education networks.

*A comprehensive broadband network for business, education and the community.

*A package of regeneration- linked transport improvements.

*An enterprise hub to provide training in entrepreneurship and technology support for new businesses.

*A comprehensive package of measures for new housing and jobs.

Gregory Barker, MP for Bexhill and Battle, is backing the campaign for funding for the region.

He said: "My priorities are more investment and opportunities in local education and better transport and inform-ation technology links for business but without destroying our local countryside.

"This ambitious package addresses these priorities head- on and offers a real opportunity to reverse years of decline. A powerful case was put to the minister. Now we need to move quickly and as a team."

Michael Foster, MP for Hastings, said: "The response from Government has been very positive indeed and it looks as if we are in line now for something more exciting than we could originally have anticipated.

"The work of Seeda has been well demonstrated by its approach to this project."

Anthony Dunnett, chief executive of Seeda and chair of the Hastings and Rother Task Force, said: "The package of proposals tackles a 19th Century problem with 21st Century solutions. These proposals present, for the first time in the UK, a comprehen-

sive solution to deep-seated problems of deprivation using new communications technology as the catalyst.

"The five elements of the plan are interrelated - remove one and the new future is jeopardised."

Hastings had the potential to be one of the first pilot e-cities in the UK.

Mr Dunnett said: "The provision of a new broadband network will give the people and the economy of Hastings an immediate kick-start, while the essential rail and road improvements are being brought forward.

"It is encouraging to see what can be achieved in such a short time, when all the local parties bury their differences and bring their skills and imaginative ideas to the table."

Councillor Jeremy Birch, leader of Hastings Borough Council, said: "The plan offers an exciting and realistic way forward. Our watch words will be sustainability, integrated transport and urban renaissance."

Following the Government's decision not to build the bypass, there had been a concentrating of minds at local, regional and national level.