Congratulations to market town award winners
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Congratulations to Kivo-Ebiz the overall regional winner of the Yorkshire and Humber Market Towns Awards, who will now go through to the finals to be held in Skipton at the Action for Market Towns Convention. They beat off strong competition from Richmond Station and Yore Vision’s Ure Walks Through Time. See below for details.
Many thanks to our Judging panel guests, Hugh Rolo from the Development Trusts Association, Jamie Veitch from New Start magazine and Richard Motley from Integreat Yorkshire.
Those who could not attend the Thorne and Moorends Study Tour in July missed an inspiring event, with Susan Durant’s powerful presentation about working with young people just one of the highlights. But you can catch up with our stories below and links to the mai n presentations of the day.
As always, I would like to hear from you - stories, events or links to your website. Drop me a line at the e-mail address below.
Camilla Govan
Regional Network Co-ordinator
Moorends Miner's Welfare's inspiring youth programme
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An inspiring presentation by Susan Durand from the Moorends Miners’ Welfare and Community Development Centre showed how dedicated volunteers have rebuilt and revitalised the centre, which is now the home for a range of community activities, but with a major emphasis on youth programmes.
“It’s a mistake to put young people in a box as aliens that you can’t understand,” said Susan. “Get on in there and organise ordinary things with young people. Don’t be scared. Mutual respect is essential - treat them as ordinary people.”
The centre’s activities start from children from as young as five years old and different age groups are involved in planning a wide range of activities. The centre encourages the involvement of families and sets clear boundaries on behaviour.
“Communities need volunteers like you and I to organise activities and to actively involve young people to organise things too for the benefit of the area,” said Susan. “After all - they live there too.”
Click here for Susan’s presentation:
Community Enterprise Finance and community share issues
Have you thought about the possibility of raising funds through a community share issue?
In a presentation at the July Study Tour, Hugh Rolo highlighted the scope of approaches available for community enterprise initiatives, from energy projects to community shops.
Hugh Rolo is the Development Trust Association’s experienced and respected Investment Advisor. His presentation is at weblink:Community Enterprise Presentation.
A Development Trust Association (DTA) publication Community Share and Bond Issues, commissioned by Hugh and one of the few sources of information available, can be downloaded at:
Social enterprise brewery revives town tradition
A new community brewery will be rewarding supporters with share dividends - paid in beer.
Thorne Brewery in South Yorkshire will shortly be selling 1,000 shares of £100 each to help finance the business in its early stages.
Brewery chief executive Mark Burton spoke at the Thorne Study Tour about the new enterprise.
Thorne Brewery, a community interest company, has been set up to bring brewing back to the town and will create employment and training opportunities for local people by trading as a real ale brewery and visitor centre. The new brewery expects to be producing Thorne Best Bitter, its flagship ale, by October.
For more information, go to weblink:
Key Fund helps you get started
The final presentation at the Thorne Study Tour was by Matt Smith of Key Fund Yorkshire.
Key Fund can support the early stage development of community and social enterprises, as well as their ongoing development and growth.
Find out more from the Key Fund Yorkshire website at:
E-bay fundraiser is top market towns project
Kivo-Ebiz, a social enterprise in Kiveton, near Rotherham, was the overall winner and winner of the Social and Community Category of the Yorkshire and Humber Market Town Awards for their project which sells unwanted goods on e-bay. They now go head-to-head with other regional winners in the National Market Town Awards. The national winner will be announced at the AMT Convention in Skipton on 1&2 October.
The other regional winners were: Yore Vision, for their 'walks through time' project in the Ure Vally (Environment and Culture Category) and Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust Limited for their restoration of the old Richmond railway station (Business and Economy Category).
More details of these projects and all the other regional winners are at:
Ruralnet conference joins AMT Convention
RuralnetUK's 'Live and Local' conference has been incorporated into the Action for Market Towns Convention in Skipton on 1&2 October.
RuralnetUK had previously planned to hold their conference in Skipton on 30 September and 1 October. Many people said they were interested in both events, but could not spare three days away, so it was decided to move the ruralnetUK event into the AMT Convention.
For delegates, all the previously advertised AMT study tours, workshops and plenary sessions will still take place, but there will, in addition, be workshops from ruralnetUK, notably on Local Energy, Local Food and Local Retail.
The Convention is already set to have the largest number of delegates from all over the country of any AMT Convention, but you can still book a place.
For full details of the revised programme and to book a place go to weblink:
Channel Four helps regenerate Castleford
The regeneration of Castleford in West Yorkshire has been featured in four Channel 4 programmes over the past few weeks
Castleford Big Town Plan was presented by Grand Designs guru Kevin McCloud and followed a regeneration programme in the town over five years.
"It emphasised to me how vital it is for a community to lead change in their own community,"writes Camilla Govan. "Having a good plan, raising funds and working with good designers who can relate to you is all part of the picture, but community ownership is fundamental . It has to be the communities plan."
The Castleford projects are examined in depth in this weblink:
Unravelling mysteries of Section 106
Section 106 is a mysterious phrase which can strike fear into developers and raise unfounded hopes in community groups.
What we are talking about is Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, a very brief paragraph which allows a local planning authority to enter into a legally-binding agreement or planning obligation with a land developer over a related issue.
Section 106 agreements can be complex to negotiate, but for community groups or town partnerships can be important in securing a ‘community good’ as part of a development.
Yorkshire Planning Aid did a session recently on Section 106 agreements for community groups including market town partnerships and the two main presentations and discussion group notes are available here:
A planner’s perspective from Bob Pritchard, Senior Associate, Eversheds LLP: Planner’s perspective.
A developer’s perspective: Richard Baxter, Director, Turley Associates: Developer’s perspective.
Discussion group notes: Discussion groups.
A very useful document prepared in the East of England on the use of Section 106 in the provision of affordable housing is at:
Housing shake-up recommended by Taylor Review
A fundamental shake up of planning and affordable housing policy is vital to breathe new life and prosperity into rural communities, according to the independent review by Matthew Taylor MP. The review, commissioned by the Prime Minister, finds that the high cost of homes coupled with the low wages of rural workers are creating unsustainable pressures that threaten the future of rural communities.
The review recommends:
* new planning policies to shift growth of market towns from endless bland housing estates to create instead new neighbourhood extensions with shops and community facilities, workplaces and open spaces;
* a new ‘community led affordable housing’ initiative for smaller rural communities;
* and flexible new planning rules to encourage village businesses.
To download a copy of the Taylor Review, go to weblink:
Brigg blog and podcast
Brigg Town Council in North Lincolnshire is experimenting with a new way of contacting and involving people in the work of the council.
They have set up a blog and podcast on the networking site myspace. Part of the blog is intended to appeal to young people through the 3B’s street project, while regular podcasts by councillors are intended to deal with issues facing the town.
We would be interested to hear from other towns which are using the internet in innovative ways. The Brigg site is at:
Networking group for disability
DREAM, which stands for Disability, Recreation, Education and Advisory Meetings, is a networking group for people with disability in the NW Leeds, Ilkley and surrounding areas.
It was formed in October 2004 by Brenda Taylor who, after returning home from a hospital admission, was experiencing social isolation and realised the lack of opportunities for disabled people aged 18-65 to meet in her area.
DREAM caters for people with any disability aged between 18-65, who live in N.W.Leeds, as there is a shortfall of social care provision for this age range. The group is user led and carers and volunteers are welcome to attend. DREAM has just set up a website at: www.dreamnwleeds.org.uk.
One of their forthcoming events is on Monday, 29 September to raise money for Wheatfields Hospice features artist Roy Johannsen, who will be coming along to do an oil painting which will be raffled. The event is open to non-members, but places are limited. To book a place please contact 07708 245 425 or email:
Study assesses performance of rural capitals
A new study commissioned by Yorkshire Forward assesses the economic performance of rural capitals in Yorkshire and Humber.
Yorkshire Forward commissioned the study to provide an evidence base that will inform decisions on priorities for future investment in the region’s rural capitals.
The overall purpose of the study was to explore the economic role and contribution of rural capitals, with a view to assessing their ability to contribute to regional performance, and to respond positively to economic drivers and policy changes.
The study can be downloaded at:
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If you like 'regional insight', then take a look at the national e-newsletter 'insight' published monthly by Action for Market Towns and mailed exclusively to AMT members.
Click here for a sample issue
Back numbers of Regional Insight
Click below to access back issues of Yorkshire and Humber Regional Insight
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