Liveability in Havant

 

Havant, Medway and Spelthorne were selected from among 64 bids from local authorities in the South East, and are among 27 Liveability Fund pilots around the country.

 

The announcement of the successful local authorities came as part of a wider package of measures to create sustainable communities. The document 'Making it Happen' sets out the progress on delivery made since the launch of the Deputy Prime Minister's £22 billion 'Sustainable Communities - Building for the Future', published last year.

 

Launching the document John Prescott said:

"Regeneration has to be about more than just housing. We want people to feel proud of the places where they live and be happy with what they see when they open their front door to leave their homes.

 

"For too long our parks and public spaces were left to decline and the assets that our Victorian ancestors understood so well, such as public gardens and town squares, were neglected. By investing the largest amount of funding ever for liveability we have begun to reverse this decline and today's announcement will benefit communities in all regions of the country."

 

Visiting Havant today, Transport Minister Tony McNulty said:

"The funding we have announced today will not only help to create new parks and public spaces for the South East but will hopefully improve the standard of the ones already out there - showing people the difference clean, safe, well looked after spaces can make to quality of life.

 

"Some great ideas have been put forward by the local authorities in Havant. I want to see local communities benefiting from the changes these plans will make to their local environment."

The selected local authorities will be responsible for driving up current standards as well as focussing on new, well-designed parks and public spaces. One of the main aims of the liveability fund is to ensure that local authorities are better able to manage and maintain their parks and public spaces in the future.

 

Dawn Baxendale, Director of Havant Borough Council's Community Group, welcomed the news:

"We in Havant are delighted to be chosen as one of only three pilots in the South East to be delivering the government's new Liveability programme. With assistance from the programme we will be developing and implementing a public spaces design framework and delivering improvements to our key areas.

 

"Community involvement will be vital in developing the design framework itself and applying it to projects. We expect this to have a major impact on establishing an identity for the borough."

The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) will also work closely with the pilots around the country to identify lessons and good practice that can be shared with other local authorities across the country. The main tool for communicating progress made by the pilots, lessons learned and the difficulties encountered along the way will be via an interactive website. The IDeA will also disseminate good practice through a series of conferences and events.

 

Also published today is the report Living Places: Caring for quality. This publication aims to help local authorities think about the way their public space is managed and to stimulate ideas through a range of innovative examples. The report provides practical support to local authorities not only through good case studies, but by identifying a range of principles that help question existing practice and provide advice for moving forward.

Havant's pilot includes the following service improvements:

1. to develop an urban design framework which will set borough-wide standards, and which will involve the development of a public space and streetscape strategy;
2. to integrate and co-ordinate grounds maintenance, cleansing, engineering and vehicle maintenance operations, coupled with the piloting of a 'zoned' approach to service delivery;
3. to reform out of hours staffing in parks and open spaces to improve safety and combat anti-social behaviour;
4. to reform children's playground provision, inspection and maintenance regimes;
5. to expand private investment in council infrastructure, such as roundabouts, gateway landmarks and traffic islands; and
6. to bring together conservation agencies, 'Friends' groups, volunteers etc to create an environmental forum which can be better co-ordinated and supported

1. to undertake improvements to Havant Town Centre;
2. to undertake improvements to Havant Park, Leigh Park and Waterlooville recreation grounds;
3. to undertake improvements to the Beachlands sea front;
4. to undertake improvements to the Broadmarsh industrial estate;
5. to undertake improvements to local shopping parades; and
6. to install new street lighting and plant trees at the borough's gateway sites.