Agenda Item No. Reference No.

Better Local Government

AREA COMMITTEES (MONITORING): CHISWICK HESTON AND CRANFORD HOUNSLOW CENTRAL ISLEWORTH AND BRENFORD WEST AREA

Report by: ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE CORPORATE POLICY AND REGENERATION

Summary This report is for information only to advise Members of the Living Spaces grant which is available to neighbourhood and community groups throughout the London Borough of Hounslow.

1.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

THAT MEMBERS:

1.1 NOTE THE CONTENT OF THE REPORT

1.2 PASS INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THE REPORT ON TO RELEVANT NEIGHBOURHOOD AND COMMUNITY GROUPS.

2. About Living Spaces

2.1 Living Spaces is a Government scheme open to local groups throughout England. It gives people the opportunity to make improvements to open spaces in their neighbourhood and create valuable places for the whole community to enjoy.

The scheme was set up by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister (OPDM) and is managed by Groundwork with support from Urban Parks Forum. It is being run in association with a range of other voluntary organisations including The Civic Trust, The Experience Corps, The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens and The Wildlife Trusts.

Living Spaces helps people to change their environment for the better by providing funding, advice and practical support. Grants of between £1,000 and £100,000 are available to fund projects that improve community open spaces. Grants can be used to support activities such as:

• improving small local parks or parts of larger parks • creating or improving ‘pocket parks’ and community gardens • creating or improving play areas or seating areas • cleaning up neglected land in residential areas • restoring village greens • carrying out small planting schemes on verges or on estates • creating or improving nature areas or city farms • restoring ponds, pathways, gateways or boundaries.

Grants can be used to pay for labour and materials or any other goods or services are needed to carry out your project.

2.2 Who can apply? Any existing neighbourhood and community group. They don’t have to be a registered charity to apply.

2.3 What are the aims of Living Spaces? • support projects that help local groups improve open spaces in their neighbourhood • encourage volunteering by helping more people get practically involved in these projects

To receive support from Living Spaces the project will need to meet the above aims.

2.4 What kind of areas can a Living Spaces grant help to improve? Any kind of outdoor space can be considered for a grant as long as it is: • open to the public most of the time • within two miles of a residential area • not a formal sports pitch.

2.5 Who is eligible to apply? An application for a Living Spaces grant can be made if:

• your group wants to run a project to improve an area of open space near to where you live • your group is a not-for-profit neighbourhood group, i.e. a .group that is already active in a community and that has a connection to a specific place.

Local authorities, parish or town councils and schools are not eligible to apply.

However, an application can be made for a grant to combine it with funds already obtained from other sources. For grants of over £5,000 it helps the application if other contributions have been secured. For grants of over £25,000, contributions at least equal to the amount applied for must have been secured.

Thus any proposed scheme could be supported by the local authority, even though the authority is not able to submit the application.

Members may wish to support local groups in their applications by agreeing funding from the Capital Allocation and/or from relevant Section 106 contributions. In this way there may therefore be an advantage to the Council in providing support to applicants for a Living Spaces grant, because it may be possible to carry out improvement of an open space (for which either limited or no funds were available) on a more comprehensive basis than might otherwise have been the case without the assistance of a Living Grant.

Although there are limited staff resources to assist potential applicants, in the circumstances, officers may be able to assist applicants in matters such as establishing Council ownership of the land, likely cost of works, any practical constraints.

3. Further information

Further information can be obtained from the website at www.living-spaces.org.uk or telephone 0845 600 3190.

Contact: Lucy Griffiths, Environmental Strategy Officer Telephone: 020-8583-5213 Background Papers: Living Spaces Guidance Notes This report is relevant to the following wards/areas: All