Neighbourhood Projects Small Grants 2011-2012

London Road Neighbourhood Climate Change Mitigation Design Strategy

This project will develop a neighbourhood design strategy for climate change mitigation appropriate for existing buildings in part of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. The design strategy is being developed by the Bath Preservation Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Energy together with the local community, in particular the London Road & Snowhill Partnership. The project aims to tackle climate change whilst helping residents and businesses save money through lower energy bills, improving the condition of buildings and making London Road a more vibrant local centre.

Awarded £7,000 for London Road Neighbourhood Climate Change Mitigation Design Strategy

Transforming The Lockies

‘The Lockies’ is a small disused open space on a housing estate in South Kirkby.  BEAM will be helping the community realise their vision of developing the Lockies for community use, through a series of activities including a community meal and creative scoping session. The vision will place the Lockies in a wider neighbourhood context and will specifically address potential asset transfer of the space to the community. ‘Transforming The Lockies’ is the next stage in a wider housing regeneration scheme for the area.

Awarded £7,000 for Transforming the Lockies

Wirral Partnership Homes Neighbourhoods Design Guide

Groundwork Merseyside is supporting the community to produce a detailed design guide for deprived neighbourhoods adjacent to Birkenhead Docks, the site of Peel Holding’s prestigious development proposal, ‘Wirral Waters’. The design guide will include streets, gardens and amenity space. Groundwork Merseyside aims to give local people more control to shape the space they live in, and start the process of providing guidance and assistance to residents, planners and developers as these neighbourhoods develop and change. The intention is for the local planning authority to adopt the Design Guide.

Awarded £7,000 for Wirral Partnerships Homes Neighbourhoods Design Guide

Charing Village Design Workshop

Residents in Charing Village are being helped by the Kent Architecture Centre, Charing Parish Council and Ashford Borough Council to produce a checklist for the design of future development in their village. In particular, it will be used to guide the design of sensitive housing sites. The checklist will help potential developers understand the aspirations of local people. It will be used to ensure that local views are fully represented at design reviews as development starts to come forward.

Awarded £3,950 for a Charing Village Design Workshop

2Up 2Down

2Up 2Down is supporting young people to form a self-build collective. The young people are working with artists and architects to design and construct a live/work space for two to four households, transforming a block of boarded-up properties in the Anfield and Breckfield area of Liverpool. They will acquire skills in design, construction and business planning. By bringing the community together in support of an initiative that benefits the area as a whole and improves the prospects of its hard-to-reach young people in particular, 2Up 2Down aims to demonstrate the success of self-build initiatives and help shape future regeneration of the area.

Awarded £7,000 for 2Up 2Down

The Charterhouse

MADE is exploring options to restore and re-use the Charterhouse, a Grade 1 listed building near the centre of Coventry, as a community asset. MADE is examining organisational structures, sources of funding, potential uses, potential for partnerships with commercial developers, use of neighbourhood development orders, fit with neighbourhood planning, design challenges and options. The residents association, civic society, local authority and potential commercial partners are closely involved.

Awarded £2,375 for The Charterhouse

Chambers and Street

This project is based in Frizington, a former mining village that lies between the Lake District National Park and the Cumbrian coast but does not benefit from the tourism or investment of either. The North of England Civic Trust is promoting the use of design to promote a sense of place in Frizington, maximise use of the village’s assets and strengthen the local economy. The project includes plans to reclaim the disused Council Chambers for community use and improve design of the main street to encourage people to stop and spend money in the village.

Awarded £4,713 for Chambers and Street

Designing Ouseburn’s Future

Northern Architecture are working with the Ouseburn Trust to establish a design reference group of people who work, live and enjoy Ouseburn. Through a programme of events, the group will improve their skills and knowledge of design quality and work towards producing a community design vision for Ouseburn. The vision can then be used by developers to inform their schemes and as a tool for wider community engagement and consultation. Ouseburn is a mixed-use area close to the centre of Newcastle which has seen significant regeneration over the past 15 years.

Awarded £7,000 for Designing Ouseburn’s Future

Andover Estate New Build Project

The Andover Estate is a social housing estate in Islington, North London. Within the estate there are a number of underused spaces which are identified as problem areas. This project will bring together the council, the tenants association and Homes for Islington (the arms length management organisation) with youth, social and community groups. They will assess potential uses for the spaces, looking at how they might best be used and sewn into the fabric of the community. One idea is that the spaces could be used for housing commissioned by the community, via a community land trust.

Awarded £7,000 for Andover Estate New Build Project

Sneinton Vision

Sneinton is a community in Nottingham that has great potential but suffers from fragmentation between different areas and is in danger of losing its character thought redevelopment. Opun are working in partnership with Sneinton Alchemy community group to produce a Neighbourhood Design Vision for the area. The Vision will provide a framework to link together public spaces, streets and community facilities. It will identify heritage assets to be protected and sites suitable for development. Opun aim to raise community awareness of the importance of quality of place and the public realm, and people’s confidence to participate in design and planning.

Awarded £7,000 for Andover Estate New Build Project

DIY Streets Bradenham

This project will create a village design vision to improve the environment of Bradenham Village for residents and visitors, in a way that is sympathetic to the historic character of the landscape. In particular, it will examine street redesign and traffic calming. Sustrans intend to showcase how the public realm can be improved with low capital spend, with the community in the driving seat, and how innovative low cost traffic calming and place-making form part of neighbourhood planning. The National Trust is the major landowner in Bradenham and Sustrans are working closely with them, together with the Chilterns Conservation Board, on the project. The final design vision will form part of the local parish plan.

Awarded £7,000 for Sneinton Vision

Spring Gardens / Bishops Walk Regeneration Proposals

Spring Gardens and Bishops Walk is a significant regeneration site in the centre of Tewkesbury, a historic market town. It has the potential for new housing, retail and creating better connections between the town centre, riverfront and residential neighbourhoods. Transform Places is supporting community groups to prepare a design and regeneration vision for the site, to feed into the council-led masterplanning process for Tewkesbury. The project includes community design workshops and site visits to exemplar town centre regeneration projects. It will provide people with skills to encourage the very best design quality for future development.

Awarded £7,000 for Regeneration proposals for the Spring Gardens/Bishops Walk site

Great Wood Community Hub, Tean

This project will produce a development plan for the creation of a community hub in the former Great Wood Primary School in the village of Tean, Staffordshire. The existing village hall is too small and poorly located. Urban Vision North Staffordshire is providing support to the local parish council and village hall committee to design a new community hub. They want to provide a better range of facilities whilst respecting the historic character of the old school building. The project aims to raise understanding of what good design means and the capacity of local partners to progress with the community hub.

Awarded £4,556 for Great Wood Community Hub