Benwell forty years on: Policy and change after the Community Development Project REPORT Fred Robinson and Alan Townsend 1 Published by: Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, Durham University, UK, 2016
[email protected] www.durham.ac.uk/socialjustice This account was prepared by Fred Robinson and Alan Townsend for Imagine North East, part of the Economic and Social Research Council funded project, Imagine – connecting communities through research (grant no. ES/K002686/2). Imagine North East explored aspects of civic participation in the former Community Development Project areas in Benwell (Newcastle) and North Shields. The views expressed are those of the authors. Further reports and other materials can be found at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/socialjustice/imagine/ About the authors: Fred Robinson is a Professorial Fellow, St Chad’s College, Durham University. He has undertaken extensive research on social and economic change in the North East and the impacts of public policy. Alan Townsend is Emeritus Professor of Geography, Durham University. His interests include planning, regional development and the geography of employment and unemployment. Acknowledgements: We are very grateful to the past and current policymakers interviewed for the research on which this report is based We would also like to thank Judith Green who commented on draft material, Dave Byrne for his earlier Census analyses, and Andrea Armstrong and Sarah Banks for editorial work. Contents Introduction 3 Policy 4 The aftermath of CDP: Inner city policy 4 Property-led regeneration 5 Involving the local community in regeneration partnerships: City Challenge 6 Single Regeneration Budget programmes 8 ‘Going for Growth’ 9 A new start? 11 Conclusion 13 Statistical section: Census indicators tracking change, 1971 to 2011 15 References 17 Timeline: Benwell and Newcastle upon Tyne Policies and Politics 19 Cover photo: West End Health Resource Centre, Benwell.