Written evidence submitted by the Slough
YMCA
REGENERATION IN
OUR AREA
Slough is undergoing a dramatic regeneration at the
moment, with "The Heart of Slough", "Chalvey Community
Centre" and about to start "Britwell Regeneration".
Whilst these are still progressing, there appears to be a general
acceptance that they are needed, will improve the area, and give
opportunities for jobs, community cohesion etc. Having been born
in Slough in 1962 I have seen Slough through many different changes,
from a very manual, engineering type labour force to a more Financial
services/service industry base. Slough also has the impact of
an extremely multi cultural population, and a significantly higher
population than that recorded via the census. We see many refugee/asylum
seekers, a high proportion of ethnic groups, Eastern European,
Roma communities most of which live in low quality HMO accommodation.
Chalvey has issues covered on several TV programmes regarding
"The Chalvey Shed Issues". With this ward being in the
top 10% for deprivation. Slough is known by SEGRO (Slough Estates)
at one time the largest trading estate in Western Europe, although
most workers travel from outside the borough to work on the estate,
with many of our workers travelling to lower paid jobs such as
Heathrow, Windsor Travel industry etc outside of the Borough.
Chalvey regeneration is well on the way, with the
first part being a large refurbishment of an old junior school,
into a revised Chalvey Community Centre, costing we are told circa
£5 million. The Heart of Slough is also in progress, so within
the next six months we will see major improvements. We have been
involved in consultation stages on both projects, whereby the
Council have looked to the Community for their wishes etc. Although
in reality I am not sure that these have all been listened to,
or indeed considered, but the overriding issue is that Slough/Chalvey
needs regeneration, and most of the population see this as improving
the surroundings, with substantial more work needed.
HOW TO
BE DONE
BETTER IN
THE FUTURE
I believe that the Council/Government should listen
to residents/third sector/business to hear what they want and
take that into consideration, as they are often the people doing
the work on the front line, rather than imposing changes that
may not be needed (although agree will improve the local area.)
By saying what they are looking to do, get these groups involved
earlier rather than just as the project is being started. Hopefully
under the Localism Bill, this will allow groups to get more involved
in services run by the council, so that improvements can be made
to under performing/low grade/ in active resources. In general
Slough has an excellent third sector group, which in turn works
well with Public services, however sometimes a more partnership
working arrangement would I believe lead to better outcomes. Often
the people that can influence change are those that are working
within the troubled/run down areas, and therefore discussing issues
upfront with these groups, would allow them to commence work with
families/other community groups etc to begin changes. I do have
the feeling that many decisions have been made prior to consultation,
designs agreed etc.
In Short:
— Take
notice of what the Community say.
— Do
not consult just for the sake of ticking a box.
— Consider
partners to new developments, rather than keeping all under the
council control.
— Consider
third sector tenders early to allow those interested time to prepare
suitable packages, often third sector do not have resources to
do quick responses.
— Do
not over consult, as this makes people feel that "We have
already been asked this before".
INFLUENCE ON
REGENERATION LOCALLY
We have been active members of a consultation group.
Hosting both Council/Community/Residents meetings. The area being
regenerated was awarded £30k for community cohesion/safety
purposes, which was originally well received, although due to
restraints on the expenditure, this goodwill was soon overcome
with negative feelings, mainly due to the continued control. We
have been associated with several Slough groups, such as Economic
Assessment/Slough Partnership/Youth Forum etc, but on the whole
I believe we are faced with decisions that have already been made.
I think the influence gained by these groups has been minimal,
and that is one area that should be improved in the future.
ENGAGE LOCALS
The Council have made efforts to engage, but most
of the work was carried out by members of the community, ie leaflet
drops/lobbying in shops etc. Another issue in Slough is that there
are several regeneration projects going on at the same time, so
many issues are covered by more than one project, which in turn
may mean that one area thinks it is essential for something to
be done, but because of the bigger picture this would not work.
I am thinking mainly on Traffic issues here, and Leisure Activities.
If groups of Residents/Businesses are going to be
consulted, take note of what they say, or how they would like
things to be managed, rather than just pay hearsay to.
June 2011
Further written submission from the Association
of Greater Manchester Authorities
| Report to: | Communities and Local Government Committee
|
| Report of: | Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council and Chair of AGMA's Wider Leadership Team
|
| Date: | 21 June 2011
|
| Re: | Evidence from Evaluation of Regeneration Programmes in Greater Manchester
|
INTRODUCTION
1. This report follows the recent visit of the Communities
and Local Government Committee to Greater Manchester, undertaken
as part of the Committee's ongoing Inquiry into Regeneration.
The Chair of the Committee requested further information on the
evidence available from the evaluation of regeneration initiatives
in Manchester. This short paper sets out a number of key lessons
gained from the evaluation of a number of the regeneration initiatives
which the Committee visited during their time in Greater Manchester—Hulme,
East Manchester and the experience of the regeneration of Salford
Quays.
KEY LESSONS
2. Successful regeneration requires a long-term, consistent
vision focused on people and place: evidence from the evaluation
of the regeneration of Hulme, "Hulme, 10 years on" ,
the interim evaluation of the New East Manchester Urban Regeneration
Company and the final evaluation of the East Manchester New Deal
for Communities programme all underline the requirement for a
long term strategic framework which incorporates clear evidence
of growth and an integrated approach to physical, economic and
social regeneration objectives. The frameworks for these areas
also emphasised the importance of securing the highest standards
of design for buildings and the public realm and addressed the
importance of the amenity infrastructure, including shops, schools,
libraries, parks and healthcare provision, to securing healthy
and vibrant communities. These frameworks require regular review
in the light of experience, but also clearly recognise that the
regeneration of our most deprived communities is a long-term process.
3. New East Manchester's Strategic Regeneration Framework
built on the experience gained in Hulme and focuses on securing
economic, social and environmental sustainability, achieving the
highest standards of physical development, retaining and growing
the areas population and ensuring the east Manchester makes a
full contribution to the economic competitiveness of both Manchester
and the wider region. For both Hulme and East Manchester, restructuring
and diversifying the local housing market forms a key part of
the strategy for the areas, alongside the development of the areas'
economic base. In both areas integrated programmes of activity
have also been developed to support local people and businesses
to access economic opportunities, raising educational attainment
and ensuring the local community has access to high quality facilities.
Salford City Council recognised the need for a development plan
for the Quays as being critical to provide long-term confidence
to both the public and private sectors and to provide the framework
for environmental improvement, economic development and employment.
The first masterplan for the Quays was published in 1985 and was
subsequently refreshed and revised, maintaining the original principles
but allowing new opportunities to be maximised.
4. The role of the local authority: in each of the
areas in question the local authority has taken a leadership role
in initiating the regeneration programmes. In all three areas
the local authorities worked closely in partnership with the communities,
the private sector and other public agencies to agree a common
vision and objectives for the areas and to procure resources and
promote strategic land acquisition and disposal. This consistency
of leadership was critical in ensuring that the areas benefited
from substantial public sector investment over a long enough period
of time to make a real difference.
5. Integration of multiple initiatives: "Hulme,
10 years on" sets out how the rapid growth of area based
initiatives in the late 1990s and early 2000s, promoted by central
government, and each with different delivery structures and auditing
requirements, could often result in complex and sometimes confusing
management arrangements within localities. The local authority
has a critical role to play in providing an accountable co-ordinating
mechanism for these initiatives and for co-ordinating the input
of other partners into delivering sustained regeneration activity.
In East Manchester the local authority played a key role in supporting
the New East Manchester URC to act as the umbrella for a range
of regeneration programmes and initiatives, and, working alongside
the New Deal programme, NEM was able to co-ordinate these activities
with in a wider framework, procuring resources and achieving synergies
with other initiatives by combining their respective strengths.
6. Strong partnership working and a focus on mainstream
resources: significant effort has been and will continue to
be required to ensure that local regeneration activity is supported
by strong partnership arrangements with key stakeholders. The
focus in Hulme and East Manchester has increasingly been on influencing
the way that the Council and other key partners deliver services
and expend resources. This will become increasingly important
at a time of diminishing public sector resources and will require
support from national as well as local government to ensure that
all Government Departments recognise the importance and significance
of area based working and local delivery models. Better co-ordinating
our public services in an area to focus in inter-related issues
such as crime, anti-social behaviour, jobs, education and health
inequalities represents the cornerstone of our approach to successful
regeneration.
7. Generating momentum in a long-term regeneration programme
through "early wins": evidence from all three areas
points to the importance of building a strong momentum from the
start of a regeneration process. A concerted effort was made in
Hulme to deliver a decisive change in the physical environment
of the area to ensure it became more attractive to local residents,
potential future residents, investors and visitors. Here effort
was focused on tackling the area's acute housing problems by delivering
a greater range of housing choices, supported by a much higher
quality built environment. In Salford a dedicated, multi-disciplinary
team was put in place to manage the project and co-ordinate development
and an early emphasis was placed on improving water quality and
putting in place high-quality infrastructure, helping to secure
early private sector investment. Staging the Commonwealth Games
was a landmark achievement for Manchester as a whole, but it also
provided NEM with a platform to build upon both in terms of the
venues provided at Eastlands and the huge community involvement
generated through the volunteering programme.
8. Strong partnership working with businesses and the local
community: local residents were closely engaged in the New
Deal for Communities Programme in East Manchester from the outset,
helping to shape the initial bid for resources and then making
up at least half of the Board members established to oversee the
programme. The New East Manchester URC has a private sector led
Board in place and benefits from strong community engagement,
which helps to secure the buy-in of local communities and maintains
credibility with the private sector.
9. Transfer of learning from previous experience: the
regeneration approaches taken in Hulme and East Manchester have
been subject to extensive evaluation which has been used to refocus
effort in these areas, but also to inform the approach taken to
regeneration in other areas of the City. Strategic Regeneration
Frameworks have now been developed for all areas of Manchester
outside of the regional centre, which has its own strategic plan,
building on the model developed firstly in Hulme and then refined
in East Manchester. These holistic strategies make the crucial
linkages between physical, economic and social change but also
provide clarity and certainty to public sector agencies, private
investors and local communities.
10. Recovery is fragile and requires sustained effort:
our evaluation evidence points to significant successes in these
key areas in meeting a range of objectives, but they also make
clear that much remains to be done and in many of our most deprived
areas recovery remains fragile. The mid-term evaluation of New
East Manchester states that whilst there have been major achievements,
if support and momentum is not maintained the recovery in the
area could falter. Continued leadership and co-ordination will
be critical to these and other deprived areas to ensure that these
successes are not compromised. Dramatic reductions in public sector
funding and changes in the policy environment could have serious
consequences for those living in our most deprived neighbourhoods.
The evaluation studies referred to in this paper all state that
a continued focus on these areas is needed to secure the necessary
physical investment and must be supported by joint working with
service providers in order to secure sustainable regeneration.
June 2011
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