a voice News for rural SUMMER ISSUE - JULY 2017 communities Charity (no. 1144604) Company limited by guarantee (no. 7805401) www.ca-north.org.uk Calling all Parish Councils interested in Community-led housing support required by individual have not received this survey communities is available, by please get in touch at working with Social Regeneration [email protected] Consultants, Glendale Gateway CAN is holding workshops on Trust and others. Part of the Community Led Housing in work involves establishing the September so you can find out level of interest there may be more about this initiative and across the area. Parish and Town explore how we can help. See Councils potentially have a key page 2 for further details and role in supporting or providing how to book. Community-led housing is community-led housing schemes. already a success story in Northumberland and CAN now seeks to build on this Have you filled in our survey? solid platform thanks to We are currently surveying all funding from Northumberland Parish and Town Councils to find County Council from its out if community-led housing allocation of the government’s might make a difference in their Community Housing Fund. village or town and whether they We want to identify specific would like to find out more about opportunities and ensure the it. If you are a clerk or chair and Contents Calling all Parish Councils interested in Community-led housing ...............................................1 Brexit must work for rural communities as a whole .....................................................................5 Community-led housing workshops, book your place now .........................................................2 Supporting sustainable local development ................................................................................... 5 What is community-led housing? ................................................................................................2 What’s a Warm Hub? Watch our new film to find out ................................................................... 6 Transport Surveys to be launched in 4 Rede Valley Parishes ......................................................2 Warm Hubs gets national recognition ..........................................................................................6 What does community-led housing look like? ............................................................................3 A conference, but not as we know it - Warm Hub style ................................................................................ 6 Do you have difficulty travelling to essential services in Northumberland? ................................3 Prudhoe Employment Hub gets off to a flying start ......................................................................7 Northumberland’s smaller Parish Councils get online with support from NALC ..........................4 CAN welcomes Michelle Awburn to the Staff Team ......................................................................7 Consistency amidst increasing change ......................................................................................4 New marketing face for CAN .................................................................................................... 7 1 Community-led housing What is community-led housing? workshops, book your place now Community-led housing schemes have six main features: CAN is holding 3 workshop events in early September • They put local communities in the driving seat. to allow you to find out more about community-led You decide where homes are built, what they housing and explore how we might be able to help. look like and who occupies them; you create community assets which can generate income Workshop objectives are: for your town or village which can be used to • Participants are better informed about support other local priorities. community led housing (CLH). • They are usually small scale • Participants can better identify the potential for – most developments are less than 10 homes CLH in their areas. and some are much smaller. No two • Participants can network and make developments are the same. connections. • Participants have more confidence to develop • Although most schemes are usually set up and potential CLH projects. run by local people in their own communities, many are also supported by housing Target audiences are: associations, local authorities or regional and • Members of Parish and Town Councils. national organisations. • Local councillors. • They provide genuinely affordable homes for • Community-based organisations with an rent, shared ownership, sale or self-build on interest in affordable housing. sites that are often difficult or even impossible • Relevant people from local authorities and for mainstream housing providers to develop. other public bodies. • Schemes meet long-term local housing needs, • Representatives of landowners, churches etc. by the community exercising full control over how and where the homes are provided and These sessions will be held at: retaining a legal and/or financial interest in Tyndale Cricket Club, Hexham them, ensuring they will always be available to Wednesday 13th September local people who need them and at a price they Stannington Village Hall can afford. Thursday 14th September • Community-led housing is not for profit, St James’s Church Centre, Alnwick involving considerable voluntary effort from Tuesday 19th September those who decide to become involved. It’s an The workshops run from 6.30pm-8.30pm with effort that several hundred communities across limited places. To book contact info@ca-north. the country have already made, with many org.uk or visit www.eventbrite.co.uk and search successful developments initiated by Parish Community Led Housing Northumberland to book Councils. online, or visit our website. Transport Surveys to be launched in 4 Rede Valley Parishes In the next few weeks residents Scheme, which aims to address adjustments to existing services, of Corsenside, Elsdon, gaps in local transport provision or creating new community Otterburn and Rochester & within Northumberland. transport solutions such as Byrness Parishes will have an Local people identified transport provision of dial-a-ride services, opportunity to take part in a as one of the greatest issues for establishing a local volunteer local transport survey, giving residents of Corsenside, Elsdon, driver scheme, or setting up a them a chance to influence the and Otterburn. The current survey local car share. future provision of transport in aims to explore in more depth the If you live in one of these four their area. This survey is being nature of transport difficulties in parishes, please look out for the carried out by the local Parish these four parishes with a view to survey arriving through your door Councils and CAN with the exploring possible solutions to meet and take a moment to complete support of the County Council local needs. Possible outcomes the survey, even if transport is as part of the Getabout Access could include making small not currently an issue for you. 2 What does community-led housing look like? let through a Local Lettings Policy to ensure those in need from the local area can benefit from the new homes. A Housing Needs survey identified an acute shortage of affordable rented homes in Stocksfield. The Parish Plan identified the need for more affordable homes, but local residents were concerned about any new developments being built on green belt as the village sits in a beautiful rural setting. A consultation questionnaire was sent to all 1,200 households resulting in huge public support for the need for affordable housing. Examples included those who One local example is in Broomley & Stocksfield Parish had family wanting to live in Stocksfield where no new Council approved the formation the village or whom had left affordable homes had been of a Community Land Trust (CLT) and now wanted to return to built for 25 years till the through the local Stocksfield care for elderly residents. community decided to build Community Association named A key objective was to develop homes themselves. SCATA. They brought forward the new homes on brownfield plans to develop a derelict site A group of like-minded sites to help minimise their next to the village tennis club, residents recognised the environmental impact and along with a small additional site population was ageing, and it protect the green belt. More where former public toilets stood. was also becoming ever harder than 60 people applied for the for anybody not earning a SCATA formed a partnership homes, clearly demonstrating substantial salary to afford to with one of the largest housing the significant need which live there. The next generation providers in the North East, Isos exists. were moving elsewhere, Housing (now Karbon Homes), Other great case studies online sometimes for work, but to work on the development are at the National Community sometimes simply because of seven much-needed new, Land Trust Network and the they had no choice – there was affordable homes to rent by local Rural Housing Alliance. nowhere affordable for them to people in the village. All four flats live,whether buying or renting. and three bungalows have been Do you have difficulty travelling to essential services in Northumberland? A free information and advice service exists which will endeavour to help solve your transport needs, provided by Adapt (North East). Just call: 03333 441740 An adviser will discuss