PARTNERSHIP BOARD MEETING

Agenda Item 27.2b: Executive Team Progress Report & Action Plan

This paper reports on progress of the Executive Team over the third quarter of the 2012/13 reporting year and to gain approval for a work plan for the fourth quarter of 2012/13 and the first quarter of 2013/14.

Executive Team Achievements: Over the last quarter the main achievements have been: o Nitshill IGI Design Study overall winner in national IHDC Awards ceremony o Opportunities Mapping delivered to SLC to order on tight deadline o Delivery Plan delivered to RC to order on tight deadline o Launch of new GCVGNP website and e-newsletter

Key objectives and progress: for the second and third quarters of the current year were:  Opportunities Mapping: Deliver four Opportunities Mapping outputs SLC, NLC, GCC, IC. o IC report produced; interim SLC report produced; revised EDC report delivered. NLC and GCC reports ongoing and dependant on authority timescales.  Opportunities Mapping: Complete GN Delivery Plan for a West Dunbartonshire ‘hotspot’ o WDC Delivery Plan ongoing. Delivery Plan produced for Braehead/Renfrew in Renfrewshire to respond to request for data to inform LDP development.  Climate Change Adaptation: Project Manage Urban & Catchment Studies o Urban Overheating Study well underway. Catchment Study initial stages also underway. Urban Flooding Study is currently being scoped out.

 Seven Lochs WP: Council Committee approval for Wetland Park vision and masterplan and management structures in October / November 2012 o Proposed management structure developed passed to Councils for discussion with Committee Services – timetable for Committee papers to be finalised.

 Seven Lochs WP: submit further funding applications to support development and delivery of the Wetland Park, including HLF, EU LIFE+ and WREN o EU LIFE+ application submitted in September, HLF Stage 1 application planned for December and WREN Biodiversity Action Fund application for January.

 Seven Lochs WP: establish structures for the development and management of the Park o Minute of Agreement and standing orders for proposed Joint Committee drafted and passed to Councils for discussion with Committee Services.

 IGI: Complete two IGI Design Studies at Nitshill and Spango Valley and dissemination. o Studies completed and available to download from the website

 IGI: Liaise with SG Built Environment Group on dissemination of IGI Design Studies o Presentation and discussion with SG about dissemination has been completed  Communications: Deliver the ‘Better Places: Design & Delivery’ campaign messages to target audiences o Presentations, new website, newsletter, and social media all now delivering

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Project Development & Management – Progress Update

1. Green Network Opportunities Mapping Final revisions have been made on East Dunbartonshire’s Report and delivered to the Council. City Council is currently completing a qualitative audit of open space. The analysis will be run on completion of the task. The Executive Team has responded to a request from South Lanarkshire for an interim output and report to inform the development of the Local Development Plan (LDP). A further meeting is scheduled to discuss the use of Opportunities Mapping in developing Green Network Supplementary Guidance. The Executive Team has met with to initiate the Opportunities Mapping process a further meeting is programmed with outputs likely to be delivered in the next year to meet North Lanarkshire’s LDP timetable. Opportunities Mapping analysis has been run and a draft report produced for Inverclyde. It is with the Council for comment.

2. Vacant and Derelict Land and Woodland Creation Analysis

Work is in progress with relevant datasets identified and gathered. The VDL dataset has been banded according to size thresholds and local authority and the sites are being systematically assessed for potential woodland creation with the relevant authorities.

The work is due to be delivered early in 2013.

3. Integrating Green Infrastructure (IGI)

a. Design Studies

The two IGI Design Studies, Nitshill (south, west Glasgow) and Spango Valley (Greenock) have been completed and are available for download on the GCVGNP IGI website pages. Both studies have received an endorsing statement included within each report as a foreword from the Scottish Government’s Chief Architect and supporting endorsement from SEPA. In addition the Nitshill Design Study was submitted to the Integrated Habitat Design Competition and was awarded the Overall Winner – see below for more details.

The desire now is to promote these studies and begin to implement the proposals. This can be done through the relevant planning authorities and GCC will complete the Area Development Framework for the southeast of Glasgow, which will be supplementary planning guidance for the LDP and the Nitshill Study will sit alongside the ADF. Although the Design Study details cannot be mandatory by themselves there is a strong desire to begin implementation and the means of delivering a start to this through a small pilot study is being explored.

The Spango Valley site is at a different stage in the planning process as 2 of the three main landowners are not yet ready to progress the proposals due to the recession. The third landowner, Scottish Prison Service, have, understandably, a fairly fixed agenda with restricted scope for integrating green infrastructure within their site boundary.

Nevertheless, the Spango Valley site has significant scope to develop the area especially with the proximity of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park to the development area and it is hoped that the Design Study can be considered when development proposals become more imminent.

A half-day workshop run between GCV GNP and the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) will focus on IGI and placemaking and will use Nitshill as

2 27 2b Progress Report 271112.doc a case study. This workshop will also receive funding support form Scottish Government’s Learning Network Challenge Fund and as such will be placed on the Learning Network website. Additional opportunities to promote and disseminate IGI and the two Design Studies are being explored.

NB: the IGI Development Officer’s contract, financed through IRRI and the European funded Sigma for Water Project, will end at the end of 2012.

a. IHDC Award

The UK wide Integrated Habitat Design Competition aims to highlight new developments and development plans that incorporate nature into the urban setting. The IHDC receives high profile support from across the country including Westminster Government Departments DEFRA and DCLG and their annual Design Competition has judges from 14 organisations including SNH, Institute of Civil Engineers, RSPB, The Greater London Authority, SEPA and key prominent architects. The 2012 awards received 60 applications with the Nitshill Design Study being the overall winner. Lord de Mauley, under-secretary for the Environment presented GCVGNP and the consultants, ERZ, with a certificate at the Natural History Museum in London. Judges’ commented that, “..this is a comprehensive and convincing project” and were “impressed by the in-depth analysis of this comprehensive and cost- effective project.”

GCVGNP are delighted to win this award and to realise that Integrating Green Infrastructure is recognised as an effective approach.

4. Seven Lochs Wetland Park ( Gartcosh)

Consultation with landowners, land managers and developers on the proposed park boundary was completed in October, and a report and findings has been circulated. The final boundary has been extended to incorporate all the CGAs around Gartcosh and Glenboig, as well as an additional proposed housing site in NLC.

The Wetland Park vision and masterplan is now being finalised on the basis of this revised boundary, and a final draft for approval by the project partners is expected in late November. The boundary consultation has also helped develop a closer working relationship with developers for the NLC Community Growth Areas, which we hope to build on as the Wetland Park project develops. Further studies to examine green network / new green infrastructure linked to the Wetland Park have been commissioned to report in March 2013.

The proposed Wetland Park Joint Committee, associated structures and their terms of reference are being discussed with Council Committee Services in both Glasgow and North Lanarkshire councils. The timetable for taking the proposed park management structure to Council Committees has yet to be finalised.

An application for approx £500k over 5 years to support the planning and implementation of green networks / new green infrastructure within and around the Wetland Park has been submitted to EU LIFE+ in partnership with an Italian organisation. A decision is expected in June 2013. A stage 1 HLF application is now drafted, and supporting materials are being finalised with partners. The timetable for submitting this application is dependent upon the timing of expected match funding. An application to support habitat management and restoration work is being developed for submission in January to the WREN Biodiversity Action Fund. Further applications to support training activity linked to the Wetland Park are in development.

The Community Engagement officer has developed a programme of volunteer days in partnership with GCC and NLC Ranger Services and Forestry Commission , and over 20 people are now part of the volunteer group. We have also secured support from the Scottish

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Community Development Centre for the development of a community engagement plan for the Wetland Park as part of a Commonwealth Legacy programme.

5. Clyde Waterfront Strategic Projects

All three of the Clyde Waterfront Phase 2 projects continue to be actively taken forward by partners.

Erskine Rashielee Study. Renfrewshire Council are proceeding with delivery of many of the study recommendations.

The Clydeside Community Park Project The Executive Team has some concern that the project has stalled and hopes to meet with partners in the coming weeks to explore options for restarting the project.

Lower Kelvin Green Network Design Study The Executive Team has some concern that the project has stalled and hopes to meet with partners in the coming weeks to explore options for restarting the project.

6. Ravenscraig

Due to the current economic climate the full development programme for Ravenscraig is in abeyance. The Partnership will continue to monitor opportunities for integration of the Executive Team in future development through regular discussion with North Lanarkshire Council.

7. Climate Change Adaptation

The Climate Change Adaptation project consists of three components: Urban Overheating; Catchment Scale Land Use Change to Reduce Downstream Flooding; and Urban Hazards and Vulnerabilities.

The Urban Overheating Study is being carried out by Glasgow Caledonian University and is well underway. It will assess the current situation in the GCV, project future increases in temperatures and model Green Network responses to that. The Study is due to be completed in February 2013.

The Catchment Scale Study is being carried out by Forest Research and the data gathering stage has just begun. The Study is due to be completed in February 2013.

The Urban Hazards and Vulnerabilities Study will entail the identification of communities and groups at risk from climate change events, primarily flooding and overheating and spatial mapping and analysis in GIS. The Partnership is currently investigating funding and delivery options for the Study.

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Communications and Promotion

 Briefings and Meetings: Several briefings and meetings have taken place which provided the opportunity to build the partnership and raise awareness of the GNP. o BPD&D campaign presentation to GHA Regeneration Seminar o BPD&D campaign presentation to Scottish Government at Victoria Quay o BPD&D campaign presentation to NLC’s Environment Partnership Group o IGI briefing to Homes for Scotland o Opportunities Mapping briefing to SLC Planners  Events: engagement events attended to promote the Partnership and the Green Network product to relevant audiences. o CIC Start event on Sustainable Infrastructure – presentation on IGI o CIWEM event on surface water management – presentation on IGI

 Website stats: Website statistics for August- September 2012

NB: The statistics shown below are for August and September only. Our new website was launched in early October, but unfortunately the Google Analytics function was not ‘switched on’ by our web developer until mid November.

At the next Board meeting we will be able to compare our new website statistics with the old website statistics.

Google Analytics Aug- Oct 2012

Month Aug Sept

Page Views 2,077 2,325 Visits 544 721 Unique Visits 408 545

Redirection from other websites Aug Sept

SNH 8 14 Clyde Waterfront 7 7 Glasgow City 5 4 West Dunbartonshire 3 0 Scot Gov 3 0

Over Period August- October 2012

New Visits 58.88% Average Page Visits 3.42

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Action Plan

Key objectives for the next two quarters are:  Partnership: o Draft Business Plan for 2013/14 for presentation at next Board meeting o Ensure new governance and funding arrangements are in place for 2013/14 and Board meetings are synchronised with GCVSDPA Joint Committee meetings  Opportunities Mapping: o Undertake Glasgow analysis and complete first draft of Vacant and Derelict Land Study  Climate Change Adaptation: o Project manage three studies to successful completion

 Seven Lochs WP:

o Submit HLF stage 1 and WREN Biodiversity Action Fund Applications.

o Finalise Wetland Park vision and masterplan, proposed management structure and development approach to support Committee papers in both Glasgow and North Lanarkshire councils.

o Complete Green network / green infrastructure plans for cluster areas within the Wetland Park.

o Extend the Gartcosh Gartloch Green Network Development Officer and Seven Lochs Community Engagement roles in partnership with the SDP.

 IGI:

o Dissemination of the IGI approach for the two Design Study areas of Nitshill and Spango Valley and more generally across the region will continue.  Communications: o Deliver the ‘Better Places: Design & Delivery’ campaign messages to target audiences

Recommendation:

The Board are requested to approve the action plan for the GN programme for the next two quarters.

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