FROM the outside, the site of the Heartlands regeneration project looks like any parcel of disused former industrial land.

One of many such sites in and around Camborne, Pool and Redruth, the area earmarked for the Heartlands project currently comprises of some former mining buildings surrounded by scrubland.

The former Robinson's Shaft mine complex closed in the early 1990s, when the then Kerrier District Council bought the land because of the listed buildings it housed.

Since then, the eight hectare site has been used principally for dog walking. But in 2007, it was announced that the Heartlands project would receive more than£22million from the Big Lottery Fund's Living Landmarks scheme.

A total of 350 applications were received, with Heartlands being one of only four to get the nod. It was the only scheme in England that was granted funding.

The project has a total budget of £30million with additional funding coming from the Homes and Communities Agency and Cornwall Council.

It is also applying for Convergence funding to create an access road to the site.

The development will be zero carbon and permission is being sought build two wind turbines on the site that will meet most of the scheme's energy needs and allow it to sell off some of the power that is created for a profit.

It will also have biomass heating and solar capture heating.

The project team are based in some of the former mining buildings on the site where a detailed 3D model of the project shows the degree of transformation that is proposed.

As well as a visitor centre for the Robinson's Shaft complex and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, there will be health and leisure facilities for local people as well as workshops for businesses.

There will also be an events arena with space for 4,000 people and up to 20 apartments.

Public artwork will also be a striking feature, with four gateways into the site marked by a piece of art made by Japanese architecture studio Atelier Bow-Wow in consultation with local people.

So far, £1.3million has been spent on preparatory work at the site including decontamination and drainage work and the removal of asbestos and Japanese knotweed.

After years of talk, but little tangible progress on the ground, the Heartlands scheme is being heralded by many as the catalyst for change in the area.

Programme director Scott James said: "This will be the first big step for Pool to achieve its future."

He added: "Heartlands is physically central to the plans of the Urban Regeneration Company. It has got masterplans for the north and the south and we're in the middle. If you see the masterplans they have got, it all connects with Heartlands. It has leisure usage and cultural usage and it all starts to create a critical mass."

The heritage centre would use hi-tech equipment to create an interactive exhibition to draw people in – including relatives of the thousands of Cornish men and women who emigrated to mining centres around the world.

The scheme is aiming to attract 200,000 visitors a year and will be self-sustaining in terms of its income.

Although 10 per cent of the grant it has received is in the form of an endowment which will give the scheme a small amount of guaranteed annual income, it must generate the remainder itself. As facilities at the site will be free, it will be heavily reliant on secondary spend.

Of those 200,000 visitors, it is expected that 50,000 will come from out of county.

And, bearing in mind the fate of Devon-based mining heritage attraction Morwellham Quay, Mr James is mindful that it will need to be a 21st century visitor attraction with all the technological bells and whistles that entails.

"The way we have gone down is not just to attract people who are interested in mining heritage – there are ridiculously few of them. We will have hi-tech audio visual facilities and we have an awareness that we need to present it in an interesting way through the use of technology so we will be doing things like having satellite links to Australia."

When the scheme is complete, it will be run by the Heartlands Trust with a team of around six people. It is expected that businesses on the site – such as those that occupy the workshops and run cafe facilities – will employ a total of 50 people.