Archived decisions

Contact: Tony Munford, ext 6722 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That approval be given for £80,000 per annum to be permanently vired from the Regeneration of Older Urban Areas minor projects allocation to the Hampshire Villages Initiative.

(ii) That officers be requested to prepare a further report identifying a two year programme for the Hampshire Villages Initiative for 2004/05 and 2005/06 against the objectives and selection criteria set out in this report, to be submitted to a future Executive Member for Environment decision meeting for approval.

2. Reason

2.1 The programme for the Regeneration of Older Urban Areas (ROUA), along with the Country Towns Initiative, has provided a focus for stimulating such areas and improving the environment. Whilst Hampshire villages experience distinctive rural problems they also experience issues which resonate with those of the older urban areas. In keeping with the aims of the emerging Community Strategies it is proposed to extend the scope of this funding to include villages which might not otherwise have met the `older urban area' designation. Approval of this funding will support the implementation of a programme for the improvement and enhancement of the environment within Hampshire villages. The initiative will enable the County Council to maintain and extend its commitment to investment in the community by encouraging and supporting local community partnership projects.

2.2 Should the funding recommendation (i) of this report be agreed, candidate projects for the Hampshire Villages Initiative programme would need Executive Member for Environment approval at the earliest opportunity, to ensure implementation can be achieved during 2004/05 to 2005/06. It is intended that the Initiative should work in partnership with other departments of the County Council, local authorities, parish councils and community groups.

2.3 This is a modification to the agreed ROUA programme, which has a Capital Programme allocation of £955,000 per annum in 2003/04 and 2004/05. In addition to the identification of budgets for new and major projects across the county, the ROUA 2003/04 programme includes an allocation of £125,000 to enable Members to meet urgent issues on minor projects as may be identified and brought forward during the programme period. The Hampshire Villages Initiative will utilise funding from the Minor Projects allocation and will not therefore materially affect the current programme of ROUA schemes.

2.4 This decision supports the following aims of the Corporate Strategy:

(i) Aim 1 (Maximising life opportunities) and Aim 4 - Building strong and safe communities, by creating opportunities for village communities to address local environmental and traffic safety issues through partnership working, and enabling them to gain a better understanding of the local sense of place.

(ii) Aim 2 - Stewardship of the environment, by implementing environmental improvement schemes which enhance the distinctiveness and quality of Hampshire's villages and ensuring Hampshire remains a place where people want to live.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Funding from the Local Transport Plan Capital Programme was considered. This option was rejected because the narrow remit for expenditure within the Capital Programme would not meet the wider aims and objectives of the Hampshire Villages Initiative.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or Other Executive Member consulted - None.

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. Introduction

7.1 In recent years countryside issues have increasingly become a focus for the Government and other organisations. The County Council is keen to maintain and extend its commitment to investment in the rural community. It already does this through the Country Towns Initiative, the Market Towns Programme, and its involvement in the Rural Towns Rural Life Project. The proposed Hampshire Villages Initiative will extend this commitment by encouraging and supporting schemes, in conjunction with the wishes of local people, for the improvement and enhancement of the environment of villages within the county.

7.2 The Initiative will tie-in with local aspirations expressed in Village Design Statements and other Government Initiatives and can be expected to provide an opportunity to implement priorities for improvements that might be identified in the emerging community strategies. There has been a significant interest expressed by local communities and parishes to work in partnership with the County Council on local environmental improvement schemes in their villages. The Hampshire Villages Initiative has the potential to provide a focus for delivering holistic, quality environmental enhancements to address key environmental quality, social and road safety issues in villages. The aim would be to create a distinctive sense of place for the local community, ensuring that the implementation of projects within the Initiative reflect the unique sense of place of Hampshire's villages.

7.3 A Hampshire Villages Initiative existed in its own right during the 1990s and funded a variety of environmental improvement projects including pond restoration, improvements to village greens and settings of village halls as well as improved signing and street furniture. Until a response has been received from consultations with the local communities and parishes, it is difficult to pre-determine the range of improvements that might be required today, although by building onto existing implementation programmes a key role for the Hampshire Villages Initiative could be to add value to existing highway improvement projects. In such circumstances highway project boundaries could be extended to address wider environmental issues and potentially encompass complementary projects identified by the community.

7.4 In responding to local aspirations the programme could also include individual projects identified on their own merits. In such circumstances the aim would be to seek additional external resources.

8. Objectives

8.1 Within the remit of the overall aims outlined above, a number of objectives have been formulated to establish guidelines for future projects. The Hampshire Villages Initiative will:

(i) Facilitate schemes of enhancement which are of the highest standard

A pre-requisite of any project undertaken by the Hampshire Villages Initiative is that it should be of a high standard of design. This objective applies to the whole project and encompasses the overall design through to the choice of materials.

(ii) Impact on the public domain

This does not imply that projects necessarily have to be carried out on land within public ownership, but they must contribute to the overall scene within a village and be of benefit to the community at large.

(iii) Reflect the wishes of the local community

All projects should reflect the wishes of the local community, expressed through the Parish Council or other local organisations, or be the subject of a consultation exercise undertaken expressly to elicit a response to a particular scheme.

(iv) Reflect local character

Each village has its own unique sense of place which may well be defined in a Village Design Statement. Schemes must reflect this character through, for example, design solutions, the choice of materials, the use of plants and the selection of street furniture.

9. Selection Criteria

9.1 Within the four overall objectives, schemes to be included within the programme should be within the public domain and seek to achieve the following:

(i) create a sense of identity and place, including on arrival at the village;

(ii) remedy an existing eyesore;

(iii) have an individual treatment based on the distinctiveness of each village;

(iv) have immediate and significant impact; and

(v) reduce street clutter.

9.2 Priority will be given to schemes which:

(i) inspire a continuing programme of improvement beyond the immediate project;

(ii) link and add value to the existing highway or other environmental schemes;

(iii) offer the likelihood of attracting additional funding from other public and private sources; and

(iv) enjoy a high level of local support.

10. Proposed Programme

10.1 Preliminary work is ongoing to identify possible opportunities for candidate projects for the proposed programme. Once the principle of the Initiative has been agreed it would be the intention to prepare a further report setting out a programme identifying priority schemes which comply with the scheme objectives and selection criteria. Other environmental initiatives directed by the Environment Department indicate that the lead-in time to identify opportunities within the existing and proposed highways improvements programme, and to engage and consult parish and local communities that have already identified the need for environment improvements, suggests that in practice a two year programme, approved annually, is the most effective and efficient way of delivering partnership projects.

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