Over 100 people gathered at the Rheged Centre on Saturday to hear about the experiences and achievements that are really making a difference to the people involved in the Eden Valley Big Society Vanguard, the only RURAL Big Society vanguard in the country.
The ?Big Society ? Rural Action? conference, organised by Action with Communities in Cumbria (ACT) and supported by Eden District Council and the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NWIEP), included key speakers from national Government, Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), and Eden District Council, all of whom spoke about the changes brought forward by the Big Society agenda.
Front L ? R: Peter Smith, Director of Heart of Eden Development Trust and Chairman of Bolton Parish Council; Sylvia Brown OBE Chief Executive of ACRE; Penrith MP Rory Stewart OBE; Ruth Willis Chief Executive ACTion with Communities in Cumbria. Back L ? R: Councillor Gordon Nicholson Leader of Eden District Council; David Graham Chairman of the Lyvennet Community Trust; Anton Draper Department for Communities and Local Government.
In particular, the conference celebrated the achievements of the community groups active in the Eden Valley Vanguard area. Representatives from groups working in the Heart of Eden, Upper Eden, and Lyvennet Valley areas spoke of the many community led projects being developed and their experiences of being part of the vanguard.
The Big Society is the Government?s vision of a society where individuals and communities have more power and responsibility, and use it to create better neighbourhoods and local services. Rural communities in Cumbria have a long tradition of self-reliance, residents are well used to finding their own solutions to local issues and many are already involved in this type of activity.
Thanks to the enthusiasm and advocacy of Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith & the Borders, the three groups of communities in the Eden Valley were included as a rural pilot in the Big Society Vanguard programme announced by the Prime Minister on 19th July 2010.
Since then local people have worked closely with Rory and with colleagues from a range of government departments and agencies to take forward key projects, many of which had been identified previously in their Community Led Plans.
Penrith MP Rory Stewart OBE said ?Saturday?s conference was the culmination of several months of very hard work on the part of the Eden vanguard communities, civil servants from London assigned to ?barrier-bust?, and many, many others who have all contributed in some way to the success of our Big Society projects. But this is really only the beginning; we must now be able to build on our successes and ensure that other communities can begin to benefit from the very valuable lessons that we have learned in the course of the last year.
?ACT has done a great job in compiling some excellent case studies, which deal with issues from renewable energy projects to community pub buy-outs to neighbourhood planning. We need now to ensure that the inkspot of learning spreads to benefit communities across Cumbria.?
Peter Smith, Heart of Eden Development Trust; Tom Woof, Upper Eden Community Plan group; and Annie Kindleysides, Lyvennet Valley Community Plan group, each gave presentations highlighting the hard work going on in their communities to identify what issues are important to local residents and the community led projects being developed to address these issues.
Annie Kindleysides commented on the project ?we had reservations about being drawn into such a political initiative but saw it as an opportunity to publicise what we were already doing and to make central Government more aware of the particular challenges faced by those of us who live in small rural communities.?
?These concerns seem rarely to inform central Government policy. We hoped to impress on central Government that assistance with access to start up or feasibility funding was vital for this kind of volunteer effort to be successful. Also we wanted to stress that volunteers cannot work alone and require support and advice from existing agencies. ?Our efforts are extra to, not a substitute for existing local government services?
Discussion workshops in the afternoon gave the opportunity to look at projects in more detail. Delegates heard about the Lyvennet Community Trust?s affordable housing project; community transport projects led by the Heart of Eden Development Trust and Upper Eden Community Plan group; the Lyvennet community owned pub in Crosby Ravensworth; and the Upper Eden Local Planning Policy, the only pilot Neighbourhood Planning project led by the community instead of a local authority.
A number of community renewable energy projects were also discussed including: an anaerobic digester in Lyvennet Valley; photo voltaic (PV) solar panels at Bolton Memorial Hall; wind turbine at Wharton; and a hydro scheme at Bongate Weir.
Anton Draper, from the Department for Communities and Local Government, has been working closely with the communities for the past year.? He was impressed by the commitment shown by the people he met.
?The work here didn?t start with the vanguard and won?t end with the vanguard.? If you have the opportunity, I would encourage you to go and visit the community projects in the Eden Valley, and the people who are involved in making them happen.?
Ruth Willis, ACT Chief Executive said ?the Eden Valley Big Society Vanguard has provided the opportunity to raise the profile of rural issues with government at both a local and national level and has highlighted the need for both to work differently with communities.
?The benefit of Community Led Planning as a way to identify issues important to local residents has also been recognised, as well as the need for communities to be given the space to innovate and access to funding to help to get projects started. Investing in community led initiatives presents good value for money ? for individuals, for businesses, and for government, as well as innovative long-lasting solutions tailored to local need.?
Councillor Gordon Nicolson, Eden District Council?s Leader said: ?This well organised and attended event showcased the achievements of local communities in the Eden Valley Vanguard area. As a Council we support the development of our communities through a planning and enabling role, to sustain local services and realise local people?s ambitions for their area.
?I was very encouraged to see the impressive range of people in the audience from practitioners, academics, volunteers, and professionals and to see a consensus building to sustain this work in the future, with consideration being given to ensuring all members of communities are involved in the Big Society, including young people and those more vulnerable and isolated. The Council will be ready for this challenge, by transforming the way it works to deliver more community led services in the future.?
What has been taking place here in Eden is of national interest; ACT has been observing and recording the work of local residents to produce a set of case studies and guidance sheets for communities. For more information, please contact ACT on Tel: 01768 840827 or visit: www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/what_we_do/big_society
Source: http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2011/06/22/eden-valley-communities-%E2%80%93-big-society-in-action/
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