Agenda item

The report of the Executive Manager - Communities is attached.

The Principal Community Development Officer presented the report of the Executive Manager – Communities to provide a progress report on the work undertaken by Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire (RCAN) as part of the Service Level Agreement with the Borough Council for 2016/17 and the first nine months of 2017/18.

The Principal Community Development Officer advised that the Service Level Agreement stated RCAN should provide a service to organisations and individuals engaged in voluntary work in Rushcliffe, and also provide services to Rushcliffe rural community groups as well as to Town and Parish Councils on behalf of the Council, in order to assist them in meeting the objectives set out in the Council’s Corporate Strategy, 2016-2020.

Jennifer Kirkwood, Delivery and Development Manager at RCAN attended the meeting and made a presentation to provide the Group with information on the recent services that it had delivered in Rushcliffe. It was noted that RCAN primarily operated in the more rural areas of Nottinghamshire such as Newark and Sherwood, Bassetlaw and Rushcliffe, with funding being derived from those Councils, a three year grant from DEFRA and from Nottinghamshire County Council through their Nottinghamshire Together Infrastructure Partnership.

The Delivery and Development Manager advised that RCAN had supported the development of four Community Led Plans in Bingham, East Bridgford, Ruddington and Radcliffe on Trent. It was noted however that the uptake of community led plans had declined with the introduction of Neighbourhood Plans in 2011. In order to adapt to these change, RCAN held a neighbourhood planning event in March 2017 where 13 Rushcliffe parishes were represented and had resulted in six parish councils asking for follow up appointments in order to take the development of Neighbourhood Plans further.

Members of the Group asked how Community Led Plans and Neighbourhood Plans differed. The Delivery and Development Manager advised that Community Led Plans were first introduced in 2000 to enable Parish Councils to consult with the wider community to discuss what services and facilities they would like to see in their parish, and to form an action plan for a period of 10 years. A Neighbourhood Plan however was more focused on the built environment, development and open spaces and was a statutory document which integrated with the Borough Council’s Local Plan. The Principal Community Development Officer informed the Group that they were not mutually exclusive.

The Delivery and Development Manager noted that during the financial year of 2016/17 support and guidance had been given to 40 different groups, with 11 funding applications submitted and 8 successful applications. The funding for these groups overall was £122,289 which was a £31,289 increase from 2015/16. Examples of successful funding applications included the refurbishment of Sutton Bonington Village Hall at £41,920 and the completion of a drainage project on Flintham cricket pitch at £22,000.

The Delivery and Development Manager noted that RCAN had delivered two successful Town and Parish forums and an annual conference during 2016/17, and was pleased to report that they had received very positive feedback from delegates. Members of the Group noted how useful and informative the recent Town and Parish forums had been and that the events were an excellent forum for Town and Parish councillors to network with each other. It was also noted that Rushcliffe was currently the only Borough which delivered Town and Parish forums with high attendance turnouts. An update was also provided covering the current financial year of 2017/18. It was noted that RCAN were continuing their work with Ruddington and East Bridgford Parish Council to deliver their community led plans. They had provided advice to eight groups so far which had secured £19,500 in funding. RCAN also held their parish conference at Rushcliffe Arena which was attended by 56 delegates.

The Chairman thanked The Delivery and Development Manager for attending and for answering the Group’s questions.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)    That the report on the Service Level Agreement with Rural Community Action be noted.

b)    That the performance of Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire in delivering the Service Level Agreement for April 2016 to December 2017 (as detailed in Appendix 2 and 3) be endorsed.