Slaugham Parish Council together with Mid Sussex District Council has published a Neighbourhood Plan and two Community Right to Build Orders, the first orders to reach this stage in England
The parish council appointed planning consultancy, rCOH to help it prepare the plan and orders. Planning Minister Nick Bowles visited a couple of weeks ago to see the progress that was being made. (listen to his comments here). The Community Right to Build (CRB) allows communities to grant permission for new development, sidestepping the normal need for planning permission. A Neighbourhood Plan and CRB both need to be independently examined and receive more than 50% support of local voters before they can be approved.
The parish council's first order is to build 76 new homes in the village of Handcross, of which half would be affordable homes and 17 self-build. The second order is for a new community centre and bowling green. The orders will be examined together, with the intention of holding the referendum by the end of this year.
The Homes and Communities Agency announced that Slaugham Parish Council has been given £54,000 towards the costs of drawing up the two Community Right to Build orders.
For more information on Community Right to Build orders look at the HCA website
How the Localism Act hands power to older generations.
An interesting report was published in September 2012 by the Intergenerational Foundation, an independent, non-party-political charity that exists to research
fairness between the generations in order to protect the rights of
younger and future generations in British policy-making.
Its findings were:
- that councillors are getting older
- few young people become councillors
- older people are heavily over represented on local councils
- councillors live in properties which are more valuable than average for the area they represent
- the age bias amoung councillors exacerbates the housing crisis facing younger people
- the Localism Act hands more power to older people.
While some of the conclusions are debatable, it is correct there are very few town and parish councillors under the age of 30.
Has your council tried to actively recruit younger councillors? If not, why not?
The Government following consultation has agreed to change the date for local council elections next year to co-incide with those for the European elections. The date will be 22nd May 2014, rather than 1st May 2014.
The local elections which are affected by this change of date are the elections to over ninety district councils in England, all metropolitan district councils, and all London boroughs plus a small number of parishes, as well as five mayoral elections. A list of the relevant local authorities is included in the Explanatory Memorandum which accompanies the draft Order.
The full ministerial statement can be read here
Our Digital Community
Social enterprises and community organisations are invited to join our digital community, a peer network for people interested in developing digital assets and enterprises to deliver social impact.
Note parish councils themselves are not eligible - this scheme applies to a registered charity, community interest company or industrial and provident society operating in England. However, parishes could form consortiums with one of the above types of organisations. Parishes may also wish to alert their community partners to this opportunity.
http://www.ourdigitalcommunity.org/ and Twitter: @ourdigitalcomm
Some community organisations are already developing their own broadband networks, online archives and apps – harnessing local can-do and know-how to develop digital assets and enterprises for social benefit as well as to generate an income.
Community organisations sometimes lack the confidence and experience of working with IT professionals to enhance the tremendous work they undertake offline – online. But, our communities are reservoirs of immense talent and, working together, we believe people from broad-ranging backgrounds can learn to collaborate to forge the best possible solutions.
That's why the Government is backing Our Digital Community – an online peer network and learning programme being hosted by The Creative Coop to help social enterprises and community organisations who want to explore new ways of working with IT professionals in a supported environment.
So, whether you want to manage a service with a digital component, have an idea for a new digital service or enterprise, or want to make use of open data for the benefit of your community – and, crucially, no matter what you know already about technology - you can access peer support or express interest in joining the Learning Programme and make a start today: http://www.ourdigitalcommunity.org/
The Learning Programme: Digital Service & Enterprise Development
- The modular course will be delivered over a period of three months from September 2013. Formats for learning will include face-to-face group meetings, online seminars, one-to-one skype sessions and interaction with a host of bespoke resources.
- Will work with you to understand your idea, translate/enhance your idea using technology, prototype, prove and document your concept, develop a functional specification, engage in business modelling
- Ultimately, participants will be supported to undertake the preparatory work needed to apply for feasibility funding/investment from broad-ranging organisations so they can graduate to build and test their digital services and enterprises in practice.
Practical examples:
- The Lyme Regis Development Trust built the UK's largest pop-up wireless network to enhance the experience of visitors to the annual Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, and is now undertaking a feasibility study to explore the potential to establish a more substantial network on a permanent basis, linked to its efforts to build an ambitious Jurassic Coast Studies Centre in the locale. It has also worked with its partners, the Natural History Museum, to develop a number of related apps.
- Toynbee Hall helps organisations and individuals tackle financial exclusion through a range of consultancy, training and financial capability services, and is exploring the potential to enhance its offline service using technology – in particular, to deliver better for less outcomes in respect of its Financial Inclusion health check: http://www.communityknowledgetransfer.org.uk/blog/brief-overview-toynbee-halls-first-digital-asset
- The Hastings Pier and Whiterock Trust is taking ownership of Hastings pier to kick-start local regeneration efforts. Integral to its work, the Trust plans to establish a 'Living Pier' - that is, an intelligent physical space that is seamlessly connected with its surroundings, using smart information and communication technologies to create a fully immersive, interactive and educational visitor experience. In the first instance, it has plans to develop a series of augmented reality embedded postcards.
Community Shares & Microgenius
On 11 June the Community Shares Unit re-launched the Microgenius community shares platform adding to the package of support being developed to support those wanting to use community shares as a way of raising finance.
The Microgenius online platform (www.microgenius.org.uk) will support the UK’s fast growing ‘own it yourself’ economy and will make it easier for societies to administer the selling of shares.
The Community Shares Unit (CSU) was established in October 2012, with the aim of growing a sustainable community shares market. The Unit enables more community enterprises to utilise shares as a way of attracting community investment and raise finance to develop and run local ventures. The Unit offers a one-stop-shop for community enterprises, investors and practitioners with services such as checking offer documents, market intelligence and access to best practice.
The (CSU) in the last few months has been working to develop and expand the Microgenius platform so it can be used for any community enterprise undertaking a community share offer. The unit took on the operation of platform earlier this year following Microgenius’ success in hosting a number of share offers for renewable energy schemes in 2012- supporting the achievement of their funding targets
Microgenius is a dedicated web platform for community shares, providing a secure, online mechanism for people to invest in share offers and for enterprises to accept funds from new members. The site works in a similar way as a crowd-funding site and operates with the added bonus that communities purchase a stake in the enterprise and participate in its success. In order to be eligible, groups will have had to be incorporated as an Industrial Providence Society (IPS), the legal form that allows the issuing of shares, however the CSU provides advice to non-IPS organisations on how to adopt this legal form.
The CSU is piloting the site for an initial six-month period and is hosting a number of offers and seeing how best to support community share offers going forward. Microgenius will host three new community share issues including a community buy-out of a well-known pub in Hebden Bridge, a co-operative seeking to run the first community-owned farm in Scotland, and an enterprise looking to install woodchip boilers to heat a local college in Leicestershire. The Hebden Bridge ‘Fox and Goose’ community pub raised £21k within three days of launching their share offer on the Microgenius platform!
To register an interest to use the platform and to learn more about the support on offer contact the Community Shares Unit at: http://www.communityshares.org.uk/
English Heritage to be split
The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) carried out a review of Natural England and the Environment Agency, with a view to possibly merging them.
It concluded that they should remain separate bodies, but that there were opportunities for reforming the delivery of services, including planning.
Both bodies are statutory consultees for planning applications and advise local authorities on environmental and flood risk aspects of proposed projects.
The government wants a "seamless planning advice service provided to developers on environmental issues", according to the review. Advice should be provided early in the planning process and be more consistent nationally, it said.
However, the review is not clear about whether a full merger of the two advisors' planning departments is required.
The bodies should focus on providing advice on projects that are likely to have the greatest impact on their priority objectives. They should continue to develop set advice for low-risk cases and input to local plans to limit the number of cases where they need to provide bespoke responses, the review said.
Meanwhile, English Heritage will become a charity from 2015. It will focus on managing publicly owned and funded tourist attractions while its listing and planning functions will transfer to a new body, the National Heritage Protection Service.
Results of DCLG e-survey of CALC members views on community rights and neighbourhood planning
About the survey: DCLG circulated a short electronic survey to NALC members between April and May 2013. Taking part was voluntary and responses were welcome from both councillors and clerks.
Focus of questions: The survey explored local council’s views and intentions to take action linked to right to bid; right to challenge, neighbourhood planning and the general power of competence.
The response rate: 800 parish clerks and councillors from 600 parish and town councils across 45 counties in England completed the survey. These findings represent the views of about 7% of NALC affiliated town and parish councils across the country. Although low, the responses were distributed fairly evenly across the country.
Focus of the summary findings: DCLG have produced a summary Powerpoint pack presents high level findings on parish and town council views and accounts of action linked to right to bid; challenge and neighbourhood planning.
63% of respondents to the survey said their parish/town council had already taken action around one or more of our policy areas. The most common policy combinations pursued were ‘right to bid/asset transfer’ and neighbourhood planning.
Other key findings include:
24% (206 people) said that their parish want a neighbourhood plan and they have already started the process to develop one.
20% (177 people) said their council is taking some form of action linked to right to bid/asset management/transfer, including listing assets of community value or taking over the management or ownership of an asset.
19% (165 people) have already taken on responsibility for a local service/function from their local authority (although not using right to challenge). 2% (21 people) said their parish/town council is preparing or they have submitted an expression of interest under right to challenge.
The results for Berkshire were:
- Views on Neighbourhood Planning (19 councils responded)
3 are considering taking forward a neighbourhood plan
10 won’t be developing a neighbourhood plan
5 have already started the process
1 hadn’t heard of the right
- Views on Right to Challenge (16 councils responded)
8 didn’t think the policy was right for them
3 had already taken over services /functions from the principal authority
4 was preparing to bid for a service, but not using the right
1 hadn’t heard of the right
Services/functions already delivered by council included public toilets.
- Views on Right to Bid (16 councils responded)
4 didn’t think the policy was right for them
4 are reviewing assets to list
3 already had listed assets with the local authority
2 had already taken over the ownership/management of community assets.
3 hadn’t heard of the right.
Assets already in parish/town council control included sports centre, public toilets.
