Liverpool to receive support from Design Council CABE to help communities engage in the design of their locality

THE Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art Ltd. Is amongst the fourteen organisations who will receive grants totalling £116,000 to fund their work with local communities in helping them raise the design quality of their area.

The first grant scheme 'Neighbourhood Projects Small Grants Programme’ has selected 13 varied organisations across the country to receive small grants, totalling £81,000, to provide advice and support to community groups to help them improve design quality in neighbourhood projects. They range from the Bath Preservation Trust, to Groundwork in Merseyside, MADE in Birmingham, the North of England Civic Trust in Cumbria and Sustrans in Buckinghamshire. Each will fund a unique project, ranging from creating a design ‘vision’ for a village, to a neighbourhood climate change mitigation design strategy or starting a self-build design collective for vulnerable young people.

The second grant scheme: ‘Design Review Small Grants Programme’, will award five grants, totalling £35,000, to local design review panels in Staffordshire, London, Wakefield and Hull to help them explore new ways to involve the community in reviewing the design quality of proposed new developments (‘Design Review’) in their area. Arc in Hull, with two design review grant awards, proposes to work with two school communities and a neighbourhood group in Kingswood; Open City in London proposes to work with a residents design review panel in Barking and Dagenham; Beam in Wakefield proposes to work with community in South Kirby to develop as well as review a design proposal.

Commenting on the outcome of the grant awards schemes, Diane Haigh, Director of Design Council CABE said:- "Supporting communities in developing their own vision for their area, and involving them with local design review is vital in ensuring that Britain’s new planning system empowers people and is truly accountable."

Diane expressed thanks to Marilyn Taylor and Jim Eyre for helping with the assessment of the applications.

Mick Downs on behalf of Urban Visions North Staffordshire said:- "I am very pleased that we’ve been successful in both grant schemes which will enable us deliver a comprehensive package of design support and advice to one community. We will use the Neighbourhood Projects grant to support the community at Tean Village to develop a design proposal for the conversion of a disused historic school building into a community hub. The design review grant will be used to pull together a panel of built environment experts to review the proposal and work with the community to improve the design quality."

Projects are expected to be completed by Spring 2011; an event showcasing the outcomes and lessons learnt from each of the 19 successful projects will be held at the Design Council in Summer 2011.

The grants are part of Design Council’s commitment to supporting initiatives to promote the value of good design in businesses and communities.

TRAIN COMPANIES RESPOND TO MINISTER’S COMMENTS ABOUT COST OF RAIL TRAVEL

IN response to Philip Hammond's comments about the affordability of rail travel, a spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies said:- "We get millions of passengers from A to B every day; people from all backgrounds who travel on a range of different tickets. The average price paid for a single journey comes in at around five pounds and the sale of cheap Advance tickets has doubled in the last few years, with almost a million sold every week. The Secretary of State is right to point out that the benefits of rail are felt well beyond the people who travel by train. The nation's railways support jobs and businesses and play a key role in the British economy."

Crime Fighters hit the road!

LIVERPOOL’S Community Crime Fighters are taking the safety message out into the neighbourhood with a special crime-busting event.

Local residents are being invited to a free Crime Prevention Roadshow at Harthill Youth Centre, Wavertree on Friday, 16 September 2011. Focusing on anti-social behaviour, the event aims to help people feel safer in their community.

A range of information and advice will be on offer to show local people how they can help reduce anti social behaviour in their community, and give them the confidence to report it.

The event also aims to bring local residents together, recruit new Community Crime Fighters and give vulnerable people the opportunity to ‘Buddy up’ with existing Crime Fighters.

Liverpool’s Community Crime Fighter programme is a Citysafe initiative, designed to harness the energy of local people who take an active role in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in their communities. They are given the necessary support, tools and training to work with the authorities and make a real difference to local people.

Councillor Ann O’Byrne, Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety, said:- “Our heroic team of Community Crime Fighters continues to go from strength to strength – and I’m looking forward to this crime prevention event being a huge success. Events like this are really important, because they are a great way of reaching out and connecting with the community. We want to make sure people don’t feel isolated in their neighbourhoods, and that they know there is a support network out there to help them feel safe. It’s a great chance for people to meet some of our Community Crime Fighters, get a range of information about the work that is going on to make communities safer and find out how they can play their part.”

A number of information stands will be available at the event, staffed by agencies including the city council, Citysafe, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Merseytravel, Liverpool Housing Trust, Riverside Housing and Plus Dane. They will be on hand to discuss community safety-related issues with local residents and answer questions.

MP for Wavertree, Luciana Berger, will also be in attendance to listen to the views of local people. And the event will include two workshops – one focusing on tackling anti-social behaviour and the other giving people the chance to have their say on community sentencing.

And to top things off, people will have the chance to receive a free holistic massage, enjoy free music and entertainment, and even enjoy lunch with the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Frank Prendergast.

Liverpool currently has around 350 Community Crime Fighters; mainly people who are already active in their community through Neighbourhood Watch or as a tenants/residents representative. The scheme provides them with training and information to help them engage and work more closely with local services to tackle crime in their neighbourhood and keep the community up-to-date with the work that is going on.

Their priorities include tackling anti-social behaviour; providing support for victims and witnesses; sending out regular information on sentencing decisions; and raising awareness about Community Payback, so that local people are given a say in how offenders make reparations for crimes committed in their area.   The Crime Prevention Roadshow takes place at Harthill Youth Centre, Wellington Road, from 10am to 3pm and is open to all local residents. For more information, please contact Sarah Anson, Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Co-ordinator on:- 0151 233 6756.