Contact: Katie McDonald, ext 6775

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That approval be given to the submission of the SOCIETIE bid for Interreg IIIB funding, with Hampshire County Council as the beneficiary.

(ii) That a further report be submitted for authority to sign the contract if the bid is approved.

2. Reason

2.1 Hampshire County Council was a partner in the EcoEnhance Interreg IIC project. The lessons learnt and the good work carried out under the EcoEnhance project will be continued and built upon in the SOCIETIE Project. The County Council is leading the partnership in the development of this follow up bid. In view of the potential size of the bid (£1 million-£2 million), approval is required to submit an application with the Interreg IIIB Secretariat.

2.2 As part of the bid the River Hamble will be a pilot project, adding value to the work currently being considered under the Vision for the River Hamble by incorporating aspirations into a wider European context. The River Hamble will also benefit from match funding from the project for a number of actions relevant to the project.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Not to prepare and submit this bid.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. SOCIETIE aims to:

Explore the social benefits of environmental areas and how investing in the environment to increase these benefits also generates interest in the environment. Through doing so social involvement in local decision making increases and a social element to the current planning system is introduced. A management planning framework will be established, able to consider the economic, environmental and social elements of future planning for environmental and social elements of future planning for environmental areas cohesively.

This will be achieved by:

(i) undertaking case studies focused on a variety of topic areas to test various measures and their effectiveness in increasing social benefit and facilitating society's involvement in decision making processes; and

(ii) generating capacity among stakeholders to influence the integration of these methods into management planning.

8. The SOCIETIE bid is being developed with partners in the ARC Manche Partnership and other organisations in the North West Europe region. The bid will be submitted to the North West Europe Secretariat for approval in April 2002.

9. The County Council will benefit from being a part of this work by:

(i) bringing external funding to its work;

(ii) informing the County Council's work;

(iii) expanding the scope of existing work; and

(iv) leading the development of new management techniques.

10. If the bid is successful up to two posts could be created within Hampshire County Council, which would be 50% funded by Europe. The total budget for the bid could be between £1 million-£2 million.

7033/KMcD