Hyndburn

Although not something that can be taken into account by the Council when making its decision on the planning application, if the Hyndburn Wind Farm proposal is built, in accordance with Government guidelines, Energiekontor has invited the PROSPECTS Foundation to produce a proposal for the administration and management of a community benefit fund for Hyndburn derived from the income from the wind farm. The proposal will work with Hyndburn’s communites to generate projects that local people want and which promote sustainability in the Borough.These projects will be of benefit to the local and wider environment and help to improve quality of life for the residents of Hyndburn.

The amount of funding proposed is proportional to the potential generating capacity of the wind farm development that may be granted planning permission. This means that the amount contributed each year is fixed (with an annual inflation increase) and not dependent on the actual amount of energy generated. The amount proposed is £3,500 per installed megawatt and on the basis of the current proposal the fund will exceed £100,000 per year for the life of the development – at least 25 years.

This will enable PROSPECTS to develop a programme with the following key features:

• A community-led approach whereby local people define and design the projects by working through the existing network of 8 PROSPECTS Panels and over 60 other community groups across all areas of Hyndburn
• Approximately 25 local-scale projects each year (based on previous experience), involving about 300 local residents as volunteers, although there is scope for a smaller number of larger scale projects, depending on what emerges
• Money to directly fund the projects, which can also attract extra match funding to at least double the amount available
• Employment of a dedicated extra full-time Community Projects Officer
• PROSPECTS’ 10 years experience and well-established reputation as an organisation which can deliver programmes of environmental project work through community action
• A fully equipped tool store for the use of community groups
• Full risk management and insurance cover to the projects and volunteers

The PROSPECTS Foundation is a registered charity established in 1998 for environmental sustainability through community projects and awareness. The charity employs staff to provide professional, financial and technical development support to community groups who wish to carry out environmental projects that come from local people and improve local quality of life. Support includes assistance with project design, funding applications, contracts management, lease or purchase of land, umbrella insurance, training and volunteer co-ordination, and regular publicity.

The Charity is governed by a voluntary board of trustees including representatives of the eight PROSPECTS Panels for Accrington, Baxenden, Church, Clayton with Altham, Great Harwood, Huncoat, Oswaldtwistle and Rishton. There is also one representative from Hyndburn Borough Council and one from Lancashire County Council, plus sponsors, individual members and co-optees.

As well as local community groups, PROSPECTS works in partnership with over 24 partner agencies and 15 local businesses, helping to bring different sections of the community together.

The success of this approach can be seen from an impressive record of over 90 projects and activities created by local residents. These include: creating woodlands, green spaces and nature walks, such as a Millennium Baby Woodland, a Peace Garden, Tinker Brook Tree Nursery tended by people with a learning disability; restoration of Gatty Park and Clayton Hall Allotments linked to a healthy eating programme; youth activities such as a Graffiti Wall, murals and sports facilities at recreation grounds, and the Dream Team reward schemes; Clean-Up Weeks, targeted litter-picks, footpath, cycleway and ‘grotspot’ clearance; improving canal access including a picnic site and fishing platform with disabled access and a community gateway; gardens on derelict land, bulb-planting, Huncoat in Bloom; creating wildlife sanctuaries, installing bird and bat boxes, knotweed bashing; creating outdoor classrooms in schools and developing Eco-schools; community works of art, and heritage memorials such as Moorfield Colliery.

Keeping this community focus, PROSPECTS also addresses the wider agenda of sustainable development issues. PROSPECTS co-ordinates the Hyndburn Energy Forum and Fair Trade Borough panel and employs a Community Food-Growing Project Worker on behalf of the Hyndburn Food Web. PROSPECTS established Prosperity Recycling, an award-winning social enterprise producing outdoor furniture and playgrounds from recycled plastics, whilst also providing employment and training for disabled people and unemployed youths. Prospects Plastics Limited is a new partnership venture to process Lancashire’s plastic waste. In 2009 the charity will be starting a new Social Enterprise Development Initiative to establish four new community businesses. PROSPECTS has applied for planning permission to develop a carbon-neutral Environmental Business Park on its 11 acre site at Coach Road, Oswaldtwistle.

Because the fund is focussed on the environment and to help community groups to concentrate on sustainability projects, certain ‘themes’ are used by PROSPECTS for all its work, within which projects are developed. They are:

• Biodiversity – creating, protecting and enhancing local wildlife habitats eg. nature trails, woodlands, stream clearance, wildlife gardens, school wildlife areas
• Energy – home and community energy efficiency and development of local-scale renewables eg. Insulation, energy efficiency and fuel poverty projects, community wind, hydro or solar projects, woodchip fuel, biodiesel
• Food – creating projects for growing and sourcing more local, organic, healthy food by the community for the community eg. community allotments, backyard projects, organic training and visits, co-operative purchasing
• Sustainable transport – encouraging use of public transport, bicycles and walking eg. footpaths and cycleways, car sharing schemes, railway station adoption
• Waste and recycling – identifying more ways of reusing and recycling our waste efficiently eg. community composting schemes, green gifts from domestic plastic waste, development of Eco-Schools

Project selection will not be a competitive process and the programme will be open to any community organisation in Hyndburn wishing to develop a project which meets one of the sustainability themes. The Projects Officer will be pro-active in seeking the involvement of disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minority groups, disability groups, young people, older people, local residents groups in deprived areas, and mental health support groups.

Examples of ways in which residents throughout the borough will benefit are:

• Access to more green spaces such as nature trails and woodlands;
• Warmer homes and a reduction in fuel poverty;
• Access to healthier food which is locally grown and organic;
• Health benefits of increased physical activity including walking, cycling and volunteering work on projects;
• A cleaner, greener, healthier environment;
• Disadvantaged groups, including disabled people, older people, ethnic minorities, young people, and families living in deprived areas, will particularly be targeted to benefit from projects.
• Communities will be strengthened by bringing people together to take a leadership role in improving their own neighbourhoods. When people are empowered to identify their own problems and to choose and implement their own solutions, they also grow in self-confidence and self-reliance and improve their personal skills.

Further information about the work which the Prospects Foundation can be obtained at www.prospectsfoundation.org.uk