Self-financing community assets

This is a virtual study tour (featuring a 5 minute film and presentation by local spokesperson) that looks at successful investment in sustainable community facilities in 3 Shropshire towns.
The community facilities are:

1. Cleobury Country Centre, Cleobury Mortimer: A multi use building run as a social enterprise and that serves the needs of local businesses, education and community groups
2. Wem Town Hall, Wem: An arts, learning, community and enterprise centre
3. Mayfair Community Centre, Church Stretton: Community – run centre providing services, room hire and even hosting a country market

Practice Workshop: Climbing the Localism Ladder

Everybody’s talking about localism and the Localism Bill – but how can you make it work for your town? The main thing is to make sure you involve the community – and in this workshop you can find out about the tried and tested method of doing just this: Community Led Planning and Solutions.

Two councils who have been using this method are Shropshire, who will share their experience of the Rural Toolkit, and North Dorset, who will talk about a decade of their award-winning partnership with the community.

Policy Workshop: Making Localism Pay

This workshop takes a look at the new funding mechanisms for Neighbourhood Planning: how to negotiate community funding with housing developers and how the Community Infrastructure Levy and New Homes Bonus can operate – and why you need to know about them!

Practice Workshop: Acquiring Community Assets

Is there a fantastic public building in your town about to be knocked down and turned into flats? Or a community centre that is ok but could be so much more?

Find out how your community could take charge in this workshop on acquiring and managing community enterprises and assets.

You’ll get the latest information on new opportunities that the proposed Community Right to Buy legislation could offer. Plus how to go about business planning, acquiring, running and managing land and buildings important to local people. There will also be advice on how to raise funds through community share offers.

DELIVERING ENTERPRISE

Study Tour: Growing Environmental Enterprise

This two hour study tour will discuss the prospects for green start-up businesses in and around rural towns. It will look at a variety of new eco enterprises in Ludlow including:

1. The restored Mill on the Green with newly installed hydro-electricity generating water wheel
2. The innovative company, Riversimple, which designs hydrogen-fuelled cars from its HQ at the Mill on the Green
3. Eco Business Park built to the BREEAM highest standard

Policy Workshop: Delivering Truly Local Enterprise

What are Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) and what role do they play? This workshop looks at how they can encourage economic development that matches local needs in market towns.

Drawing on the experiences of the Marches LEP and national work for the Rural Coalition and DEFRA led by AMT, the workshop will include discussion of local, county and national trends and the opportunities for small towns to benefit from funding and support.

Study Tour: The Making of “Brand Ludlow”

What makes Ludlow so lovely? This two hour study tour around the town will look at Ludlow’s historic environment and how its heritage, farming and local food traditions combined with new skills have been the basis for successfully marketing the town to visitors.

Practice Workshop: Delivering Town Centre Vibrancy

This workshop will consider the conclusions coming out of research commissioned by AMT and the Government’s Town Centre Inquiry led by Mary Portas.

With input from Sainsbury’s national property team and local loyalty specialist My Card, the discussions will focus on how retailers and councils can work together to lead a town centre comeback!

Practice Workshop: Gearing up for Service Deliver through Social Enterprise

Can we really transfer public services to social and community-based enterprises? This workshop looks at the challenges and explains how the Big Lottery Fund’s £5million Social Investment Fund will help.

We’ll look at examples nationally and local Shropshire case studies – the focus will be on how to extend the reach of community-based enterprises across a number of neighbouring towns.

What next?

• Read more about the Action for Market Towns National Convention 2011

A social enterprise in Settle, North Yorkshire which generates green electricity with all profits going to the community has won the Yorkshire and Humber regional prize in the prestigious Market Town Awards and will now go head-to-head with projects from seven other regions in the National Market Town Awards.

Settle Hydro Ltd is Yorkshire’s first community benefit hydro electricity company. It will produce about 150,000kw of clean green renewable energy per annum, sold into the national grid, producing a sustainable income. The scheme involved installing an Archimedes screw alongside an existing weir.

Funded by a mix of grants, an Industrial and Providence Society share issue, and a bank loan, Settle Hydro was started and is run by a team of dedicated and business-minded volunteers. It will produce an income for the Settle community for at least the next 50 years, and is proving a role model for other communities.

The judges commented that the project was very strong on community involvement, innovation and the viability of the funding package. They said it was a well conceived and well implemented project with community benefits.

Settle Hydro won the Partnership and Strategic Working Category in the regional Market Town Awards and was also the overall regional winner. The award was presented at a ceremony in Todmorden by the Mayor of Todmorden, Cllr Margareta Holmstedt.  They now go head-to-head with other regional winners to compete for the National Market Town Award at the Action for Market Towns Convention in Chippenham, Wiltshire on October 12.

Other winners were:

Environment and Culture Category – The Junction, Goole, East Yorkshire for a £3million  landmark community, arts and civic building to provide  a catalyst for the creation of jobs, training opportunities and the broader regeneration of Goole market and the town centre. The project was led by Goole Town Council.

Business and Economy Category – Slaithwaite Community Shop, West Yorkshire. This is a community-owned shop which was set-up when an existing greengrocer was about to go out of business. It was established as an Industrial and Provident Society and has raised over £25,000 in share capital from the local community.  The shop promotes local food, is thriving and continues to increase its sales and impact on the small town centre.

Social and Community Category – Hudswell Community Pub, North Yorkshire for establishing a co-operative to buy and operate the village pub, which had closed down with no prospect of a buyer. The George and Dragon will be run for the benefit of the residents of the village and of visitors to the area, providing services to the village and to visitors that will support other local businesses and tourism within Swaledale.  Most importantly it will put the heart back into the village and provide a place for social gatherings, cultural activities, a place to meet people, exchange information and it will promote a cohesive and friendly community in Hudswell.

The Yorkshire and Humber Market Town Awards are part of the National Market Town Awards which each year celebrate the great variety of volunteer-led projects which are helping to regenerate and sustain small towns throughout the country. The Awards are organised by Action for Market Towns, the national organization with over 400 towns in membership which supports the regeneration and vitality of small towns.

Ends

For further press information on the market town awards, please contact: John Pole on 01430 441557. E-mail: john.pole@towns.org.uk

To contact Settle Hydro, ring Ann Harding on 01729 812155

To contact The Junction, Goole, ring Charlie Studdy on 01405 763652

To contact Slaithwaite Community Shop, ring Camilla Govan on 01484 844554

To contact Hudswell Community Pub ring Martin Booth on 07903 872635