Aire Action Leeds- preliminary feedback fro first working group meetings

I attended the first post-launch meeting of the Communications and Publicity working group along with Ian Moore of the Inland Waterways Association.
A waterways festival is being planned for 14^th June (provisional date) and AAL would welcome your input, also working on a pack of advice and guidance for people who want to hold public events on or around the waterways.

I also attended the 1st post-launch meeting of the Planning and Policy working group along with Kevin Sunderland of the Aire and Calder Rivers Group and Ian
Discussed: infrastructure, reviewing and improving the waterfront strategy, flood risk management (as reported on my blog a big flood defence capital investment scheme is planned for Leeds which we will be kept informed of via Aire Action Leeds) and other issues were discussed.

Full feedback from the above meetings will be provided at the Keeping an Eye on Leeds March meeting and will be published in the minutes.

I am unable to attend the first meeting post-launch meeting of the Stewardship Working Group. If you have an interest in encouraging, residents, communities and the local workforce to volunteer to improve the river corridor for people and wildlife then we would welcome you attending on our behalf (please confirm with me first so I can arrange a place for you and induct you into our system of representation).

Kevin and Ian will be focussing their efforts on the Planning and Policy working group as they feel this is where their skills are best utilised. If you would like to represent the sector on any of the working groups please contact jon.holland@leedsvoice.org.uk

Leeds Strategic Plan (aka Local Area Agreement)- last chance to influence (although I expect not a lot will change now)

N.B. the latest copy of the Leeds Strategic Plan has been uploaded to the website: www.leedsvoice.org.uk see the right-hand column of the screen.

I have a copy of the latest (at the time of writing) version of the Leeds Strategic Plan. I will be submitting my final comments to the VCFS Strategy Group on 5th March which will then feed into the Leeds Voice response. Please contact me if you want to see the latest document and contribute to any response that is submitted on behalf of the sector.

Apologies if you are new to Leeds Voice and the above sentence is meaningless. For more information (bearing in mind due to high-pressure timescales info goes out of date very quickly) see: http://www.leedsvoice.org.uk/Current%20Issues/LAA.htm

In a nutshell: Local Area Agreements (in Leeds- the Leeds Strategic Plan) are the governments idea for getting places to select 35 (or less) key 'improvement priorities' from a list of 138ish. These priorities will then guide where pooled bugets are spent- so they are very important.

Events on the Calendar.

The Leeds Voice calander has a massive range of events on strategic decision making, better governance structures, community empowerment, representing the sector at Local Strategic Partnerships and more. I can't keep up with it all and I just add the environment-specific stuff to my blog. Please remember to check the calander, add your events and read the Leeds Voice Bulletin. The events below give a general idea of the events that are relevant to the forum but are not environment-specific. see: http://freecal.brownbearsw.com/VoiceEvents or via http://www.leedsvoice.org.uk/

Thursday, March 6 2008
09:00 - 13:30

Networking Event

Archway, 95 Roundhay Road, Leeds LS8 5AQ

InformLeeds is organising this event which will introduce you to some useful tools that can be used with groups, when advising them about the following:

· Helping groups to think strategically
· Getting Ready for Paid Staff
· Recruiting a Worker
· Agreeing a Mission
· Agreeing Aims

The tools will be demonstrated by Dave Carr from SKiLD, a national learning project for development workers based in local infrastructure organisations across England.

By the end of the event, you will have learnt some practical and creative ways to work with groups and have the tools to help you.

We will also be looking at ways of working more effectively together and it will be a good opportunity to meet other people in Leeds that are doing the same kind of work as you.

To book a place, please contact Carlos Chavez at Leeds Community Foundation on 0113 2422426 or carlos@leedscommunityfoundation.org.uk
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Monday, March 10 2008
10:00 - 16:00

Sharing our practice - Empowerment!

St. Georges Centre

A practice exchange workshop and Action Learning Session on skills for effective representation in communities
Community Empowerment Workshop: in this workshop we will be looking at the skills and abilities needed to be an effective representative of the voluntary and community sectors on Local Strategic Partnerships and other strategic groups. To do this we will be sharing our own experience and make use of a set of skills developed through recent research. The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) has developed a set of competencies for effective representation and we'll be drawing on these to help us look at our own roles. The workshop will also focus on empowerment - how can we act as empowering representatives and leaders? How can we build skills and confidence in others as well as our selves? We'll use look at the idea of 'empowering leadership', again drawing on our own experience, as well as recent work on this carried out by NAVCA. see also Maximum 20 participants.

The Action Learning Session:
17 March, 10 to 1.30 including lunch - in Leeds (venue to be confirmed)

This informal half day session will be an opportunity for people to go into more depth to share their experiences. Using 'action learning' methods we will work in small groups to explore problems and challenges, again drawing on the NAVCA research on skills for effective representation as a broad framework. In comparison to the workshop, this session gives you more time to reflect on your own work in a supportive environment. Maximum 15 participants Both events are open to anyone from the voluntary and community sectors who are involved as representatives on LSPs, either the executive board or thematic partnerships, as well as anyone from the public sector who is interested or involved in supporting representatives.

Booking: Priority will be given to participants who can attend both sessions - complete the form attached or accessible at: www.regionalforum.org.uk/publications_resources/news/662.doc <www.regionalforum.org.uk/publications_resources/news/662.doc> We can pay travel expenses by public transport where necessary.

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Tuesday, March 11 2008
10:00 - 15:00

Improving Reach

Priory Street Centre, York

Empowering rural communities - a workshop for people who support rural community groups The Regional Empowerment Partnership is part of the National Empowerment Partnership which has been established by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The central aim of the national strategy is to improve the quality and functioning of relationships between citizens and government in order to increase the ability of people to influence to decisions which affect their lives. The main purpose of the National Partnership is to improve community empowerment and engagement by showing where they are taking place, how well they are working, what makes them work well and disseminating and applying those lessons widely. This should bring about, over a period of time, an improvement in the quality of community empowerment across England. The regional partnership will carry forward much of the practical work and the relationship with local authorities and their partners. The principal outcome being looked for is an increase in the number of people, especially people in disadvantaged areas, who participate in public issues, press for and contribute to the improvement of public services and help to shape the future of their locality. There is a particular concern about the level of involvement in decision making of people living rurally and about the opportunities available to them. It is important that the experiences of people working rurally are included in this exercise. The Yorkshire and Humber Community Development Network is a member of the regional consortium and is organising a forum for rural community development workers to look at gathering examples of good practice in empowerment and identifying gaps in strategy, provision and impact and looking at ways in which they might be filled. This workshop is free but there will be a £20 deposit, returnable on attendance - please see booking form for details. Please see <www.fcdl.org.uk/events> for a booking form, or contact Sue Leach, Admin Support Officer at the Federation: email admin@fcdl.org.uk> admin@fcdl.org.uk or tel. 0114 253 6770. If you would like to find out a bit more about the workshop, please contact Ann Hindley at ann@hindley.gn.apc.org>

What Planet Are You On? Linking Community Development and Environmental Justice- an Ideas and Action Swapshop

I am planning to go to the event below and would encourage everyone to send at least one representative from their group. Good networking opportunity and a chance to get some grassroots partnerships set up to help different groups work together on common issues.

Booking essential, via www.fcdl.org.uk

Further info from Dhara: equalitystreet@post.com or Federation for Community Learning, 0114 253 6770, info@fcdl.org.uk

What planet are you on?

Ideas and action Swap Shop

Linking Community Development & Environmental Justice
The Carriageworks, Millennium Square, Leeds - Please note this change of venue -
10.30am - 4.00pm, 2nd April 2008

Opening Comments from Capacity Global (www.capacity.org.uk)

Keynote Listener: Kathy Kudelnitzky, Director, Leeds Initiative

Why are the largest carbon footprints being paid for by people with the smallest footprints?

We need affordable housing, but not on floodplains?!

How does what’s happening to the planet connect with what’s happening in my community?

Bring your questions, find some practical answers.

Meet people working on social and environmental justice.

Take inspiration for future actions in your groups

Please see www.fcdl.org.uk for booking forms and further information, as well as details of our other events taking place this Spring, or contact us: 0114 253 6770 / info@fcdl.org.uk / equalitystreet@post.com

Free Every Action Counts event for Community Development Trainers, Workers and Activists

Wheelchair accessible venue

Help with childcare may be available - see booking form

West Leeds Gateway Area Action Plan- Preferred Options

If anyone responds please forward your comments to me so I can use them in any response I, or my colleague might make.

Leeds City Council is working on an area action plan for the West Leeds Gateway area, which covers Armley, Lower Wortley, Upper Wortley, New Wortley and the Heights. The plan, which is being prepared in consultation with local communities, businesses and organisations, will guide regeneration and development over the next 15-20 years.

Previous consultation – issues and options – Autumn 2006
A public consultation on the issues and options for West Leeds Gateway was undertaken during November/December 2006. Three alternative options were considered: minor change, moderate change and major change. Information is available about the West Leeds Gateway issues and options consultation.

Current consultation – preferred options - 26 February to 8 April 2008
From the consultation undertaken at the issues and options stage it is clear that there is little support for major change in the area and that the area is valued as a place to live and work by local residents and businesses. It was also apparent that the minor option would not produce the changes needed to take the Gateway forward to a viable long term future. In view of this the Preferred Options have been developed based on the medium change option. The Preferred Option concentrates on seven strategic themes and seven character areas.

The seven strategic themes are:
- Design and the Environment, Landscape, Biodiversity and Sustainability.
- Greenspace, Linkages and the West Leeds Country Park
- Outdoor Advertising
- Design, Signage and Identity
- Transport
- Health
- Employment and Training

The seven character areas are:
- Central Armley
- Armley Mills
- Canal Road and Ledgard Way
- Canalside
- New Wortley and the Gyratory
- Oldfield Lane Centre
- The Tong Road/ Wellington Road Cooridor.

Public exhibitions are being held at:

Armley Library	26 February - 8 April
Somerfield Supermarket, Armley Town Street	26 February - 1 March
New Wortley Community Centre, 40 Tong Road	3 March - 8 March
Netto Supermarket, Oldfield Lane, Wortley	10 March - 15 March
Armley Leisure Centre, Carr Crofts, Armley	17 March - 22 March
Armley Moor Health Centre, 95 Town Street	26 March - 28 March

Documents available on the consultation page:
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Business/Planning/Planning_consultations/
West_Leeds_Gateway_area_action_plan__preferred_options_consultation
_(LDF).aspx

Preferred Options - full document	Introduction; 7 strategic themes; 7 neighbourhood proposals; funding, monitoring
Preferred Options - summary document
Poster publicising the exhibitions
Proposals maps including the seven character area insets
Sustainability Appraisal report on the Preferred Options
Statement of Proposals Matters
Report on the public consultation on the Issues and Options
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment	Link to the SFRA webpage
Online questionnaire	Complete the questionnaire online
Questionnaire seeking views of the Preferred Options	Print out and return to the address given

If you have any queries on this consultation, or would like a copy of the questionnaire in Word format, please contact us at ldf@leeds.gov.uk

All comments should be received by 5.00pm on Tuesday 8 April 2008

Climate Change- convincing sceptics and the basics

How to convince sceptics and answer some of the frequent (and often amusing questions) that people ask....

http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/problems/cause/climate_sceptics/index.cfm

The BBC have a good basic guide: http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/

List of environmental and voluntary sector events

Every Action Counts have produced this list, bookmark the page and the you can check regularly for events that might interest you. Hopefully I will be made aware of anything happening in Leeds and I will pass information on.

http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/en/fe/page.asp?n1=139&n2=167&n3=278

Regional Environmental Enhancement Plan

The thoroughly-updated Regional Environmental Enhancement Strategy is availible via http://www.yhref.org.uk/. It contains a 5 year Manifesto and Action Plan for the Region's Environment.

The new Strategy has arrived through a 2 year review of the original 2003 version, with several consultations. The most important things people wanted to see were a clearer statement of the region's environmental agenda, that everyone else's strategies could contribute to, and a unifying aim for the whole strategy of 'living within environmental limits'.

Action Central at the Common Place

Ever felt like it is hard to know how to take action? Ever had a good idea for an action but not had enough people to do it with? Want to know more about direct action and ongoing
campaigns in Leeds?

On Sunday 16th March 2008 The CommonPlace will be hosting
Action Central 6.30 - 8.30pm (ish)

A monthly sunday evening meal and get together to chat, share information about upcoming actions and campaign meetings and inspire each other to take action about the problems around us.

Everyone welcome, please send this to any action or campiagn group you are involved in, or individuals who might be up for it.

If you are interested in helping this happen monthly please let me know on: tummyfiller@riseup.net

Yorkshire and Humber Assembly - Climate Change Scrutiny

If anyone from Leeds plans to go please let me know. I am attending a 'key stakeholdr' focus group on 3rd March so will be feeding in to the consultation. If you have a question or comment please contact me to raise it on your behalf.

Whose responsibility is it to tackle climate change in the region?

Are we making the right interventions at a regional level? And are they having an impact on hitting the regional target?

What else could/should we be doing?

What do you think are the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents to the region's economy?

The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly would like to hear your views about tackling Climate Change and the role that Yorkshire Forward and the Regional Economic Strategy can play. The Assembly's Scrutiny Board, supported by regional Sustainable Development expertise, will be reviewing the progress that has been made in achieving the regional greenhouse gas emission target of 20-25% between 1990 and 2016. They will look at the role that Yorkshire Forward plays and focus on the challenges and opportunities that Climate Change can offer the region. Your involvement is vital to the success of the scrutiny.

Over the next month the Assembly's Scrutiny Board will be speaking with key partners in the region and would like to hear your views. There are a number of ways to do this:
*Come to the public discussion and pose your questions to Yorkshire Forward on Tuesday 18 March 2008, The Courtyard, Boothferry Road, Goole 10.30- 3pm. Booking online at http://www.yhassembly.gov.uk

*Write to us or email us with your views and experiences to mailto:scrutiny@yhassembly.gov.uk by Thursday 20 March 2008.

*Log onto the Assembly website to access key documents and feed in your
views - http://www.yhassembly.gov.uk

What Jon is planning to ask:

Can we simultaneously aim for economic growth and greenhouse gas emission reductions?- what takes priority?

How are we going to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions increases?

How have the findings of Stern Review informed regional economic decision making? (I think Stern is overly optimistic- but embedding the findings would be better than business as usual)

Can we refocus on quality of life and sustainable development (sustainable livelihoods and 5 types of capital) as a measure of success/as a goal instead of economic growth?

I've got papers for the 'key stakeholders' meeting in Barnsley if anyone wants me to forward them please get in touch.

Healthy Leeds Partnership- Small Grants

Some Health/Environment links. Green Gym, allotments, walking and cycling, healthy eating etc.

SPECIAL GRANTS: Development Grants for Small Groups The Healthy Leeds Partnership small grants programme has recently piloted ‘even smaller’ grants fund for new or developing groups. It was such a success that we now have been able to allocate some extra funding for run it 'til the end of March!
Grants of up to £500 (1000 for two groups working in partnership) are available to groups who demonstrate fresh approaches and new ideas to improve health and wellbeing in a local community. The application process is simple and straightforward and applications will be looked at as soon as they received so that applicants do not have to wait long for a response.
This is a "first come, first served" grants programme, so please get your applications in ASAP!
For further information, an application form and guidelines please contact lisa.mallinson@leeds.gov.uk or ring Lisa Mallinson 0113 247 4759 Joint Planning Officer - Health and Wellbeing Healthy Leeds Partnership
www.leedsinitiative.org/health

Transition Town Leeds.

Fowarded via Leeds Ecovillage yahoo group.

Hi everyone,

We are a group organising a public meeting to launch Transition Town Leeds - an umberella project for supporting, creating and networking between all sorts of local initiatives aimed at creating a sustainable future for Leeds.

The idea is to hold a full day public event - we hope to attract about 200 people - where people can learn about how they might be affected by the problems of climate change and peak oil, and then take part in open space discussions to explore how they can be part of creating local solutions, and develop ideas about how to take the transition town idea forward.

Our ideas for the day are quite ambitious, & to make it work really well it would be brilliant to have a team of helpers to provide food and clear up whilst the event is going on, and also to help rearrange chairs as we move into the different parts of the day. We will have the use of a kitchen at the venue, so we could either bring food in ready made and heat it up, or make it on site. We thought of serving soup made from locally-sourced produce as the main part of lunch. We will also need to serve drinks at various points, and it would be good to have a range of snacks on offer too.

The meeting will be from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 19th April, at Centenary House, which is at the top of Vicar Lane We will need people there at all times (not necessarily the same people!), and it woud also be great if a few people could help set up beforehand, or the night before, and stay to clear up afterwards.

If anyone is willing to help with this and can spare time on that day, or even help with food preparation beforehand, can they please give me their contact details; perhaps we can then set up a short meeting nearer the time to sort out the logistics of the day.

Thanks ever so, & sorry to anyone receiving multiple copies of this!

Ellen

Ellen Robottom contact: ellenrobottom@hotmail.com

For More on the Transition Town see: http://transition-city-leeds.wikispaces.com/

IWA Welcomes British Waterways’ Budget Allocation Announcement

The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) welcomed the announcement by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs ( DEFRA) yesterday confirming that the settlement for British Waterways of grant-in-aid of £57.64million would be inline with expectations, as promised by the Minister, and not subject to any further cuts.

DEFRA also announced that the Environment Agency grant would amount to £796million, although the Agency has yet to announce what proportion of this it will allocate towards navigation.

Speaking on behalf of IWA, John Fletcher, national chairman, said;
“IWA is acutely aware that this flat cash settlement is really a cut, once the level of inflation is taken into account. Whilst we are disappointed that the current financial climate and previous mismanagement of DEFRA’s budget have made it impossible to reinstate the previous levels of grant-in-aid to the navigation authorities, it could have been much worse. We are, however, pleased that all of the hard work put in by our members in lobbying their MPs to protect what funding was available, in the immediate period before Christmas has paid off. I would like to personally thank everyone for the tremendous effort that was put in to protect the allocation, during the department’s budget review process”.

“We welcome the positive influence of the new Waterways Minister, Jonathan Shaw MP and the hard work of his officials in ensuring British Waterways’ budget has not been yet further reduced after the major cuts experienced last year, despite the Department’s difficult financial position”.

“If IWA has a criticism in all of this, it is that we are disappointed at British Waterways’ lamentable lack of visibility in fighting for its share of grant, and thus failing to champion the waterways in this process. It appears to IWA, that this passivity is the principle reason that caused British Waterways to have to withdraw from the Cotswold Canal partnership. British Waterways appears to have abdicated its leadership role in the development of the waterways and seems to be leaving the voluntary sector to take up the yoke. Notwithstanding 60 years of campaigning by IWA, some things don’t appear to have changed. The need for an active waterways campaign movement today is a great as ever.”

The DEFRA budget allocation can be seen at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/busplan/spending-review/budget0809.htm

Want to influence better planning decisions? want to secure or develop land? Get training on how s.106 agreements can be used.

Following two successful `Planning for non-Planners' training programmes in 2006 and 2007 Yorkshire Planning Aid is now delighted to be able to offer a much-requested day-long training seminar on s106 agreements.
Date: Thursday 10th April 2008
Venue: St. George's Centre, Leeds

The Ethical Property Foundation (EPF), in partnership with The Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA), are developing guidance and training for community groups, planning professionals and developers on maximising community benefit via s106 agreements. As part of this project, EPF is sponsoring this seminar in the Yorkshire and Humber region, to help equip community groups with the basic knowledge and skills required to effectively engage with the s106 process and secure real community benefits.'

Integreat Yorkshire is jointly sponsoring this seminar as part of its mission to deliver community learning in place-making specialisms such as planning. Integreat intends to utilize the learning from the seminar to inform future regional events to help up-skill planners and developers in respect of community/community group s106 related needs.

What to expect from the day
This one day seminar will use a mix of presentations, practical workshops (involving real life planning applications and s106 agreements), role play and discussion groups in order to increase your understanding of the s106 system, the roles of the key players in it and the opportunities which exist for communities to influence it.

The seminar is aimed at:
•neighbourhood action groups – groups in areas of development who want to know how they can protect and enhance their neighbourhood through the planning process;
•community & voluntary groups – groups whose more general community work has brought them into contact with the planning system;
•charities – seeking to secure or develop an asset (land or buildings) for the charity through the planning process;

What you will get out of the seminar
•An understanding of what s106 agreements are, and what s106 monies can and can't be used for;
•An understanding of how the process of negotiating, drawing up and implementing a s106 agreement works, how this fits with the planning and development processes, and what opportunities there are for community groups to get involved at various stages of the process – from negotiating content to enforcing delivery;
•Knowledge of the key players in the s106 process (local authorities, developers, community groups) and the parameters within which they operate (eg planning policy for local authorities, economics of development appraisal for developers);
•An appreciation of the implications of the above points for how community groups engage with the s106 process;
•An understanding of how community groups can get involved in influencing s106 agreements strategically, rather than on a site by site basis;
•An awareness of the likely future of s106 in the light of the latest Government proposals on Community Infrastructure Levies and any opportunities to influence this;
•The chance to raise issues, problems and concerns that you have about the workings of s106 so that they can be taken on board in the EPF study & influence future Integreat professional development sessions.

For further details please contact Jacqui Baines at Yorkshire Planning
Aid.
jacqui.baines@planningaid.rtpi.org.uk
Tel: 0113 237 8486

Low Carbon Cities Event- Jon attending

I'm going to this event as one of a handfull of Leeds representatives. If you have anything in particular you want me to talk about (e.g. a successful project/ campaign from Leeds) or find out about (e.g. what are poeple in other cities doing to develop CHP networks) then please get in touch jon.holland@leedsvoice.org.uk.

Low Carbon Cities Event: City Wide Opportunities
Core City Event: 5th March 2008, London
A cross-sectoral and community-wide approach to carbon reduction is essential if we are to make a success of the climate change indicators in the Local Government Performance Framework. The Low Carbon Cities Programme (LCCP), co-developed by the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust, is an innovative city-wide approach to carbon reduction. Three cities – Bristol, Leeds and Manchester – are developing plans with outputs which could be utilised by the other core cities and councils in general. The outputs include a city-wide carbon reduction ‘toolkit’; carbon emissions benchmarking software for the city; and other tools and events to enable and drive a true cross-sectoral approach to reducing carbon emissions across a city.

As part of the Programme, we are running two events for all 8 of the Core Cities, to enable sharing of experiences and cross-fertilisation of ideas. The first of these events is being held on Wednesday 5th March at the Holloway Road Resource Centre, Islington, London.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to this meeting. The event is aimed at a cross-section of stakeholders from the Core Cities – including the health sector, universities,
transport, housing, businesses and the voluntary/community sector, as well as the City Council itself. Participants should be owners / implementers of strategies within these organisations, and at a suitable level of seniority to influence the direction your organisation takes in contributing to a truly city-wide approach. CEOs and elected representatives will have an opportunity to attend our second ‘all city’ event, which will take place in mid-May.

The meeting is being held in the London Borough of Islington, and we will be hearing from members of their Climate Change Partnership on the progress they have been making in bringing a wide mix of stakeholders together to deliver real partnership action on climate change.

At the meeting you will be able to:
• Discuss the key learnings of the three cities participating in the Programme and
explore how they could impact on your city
• Get inspiration from colleagues in all of the Core Cities, and from further afield
• Work with colleagues to identify city-specific opportunities to work together to deliver
action on climate change
• Learn about technological opportunities and other support programmes that are
already available to cities, and how you can take advantage of them
Places are strictly limited, and so we are looking for a core team of about 7-8 stakeholders
from each city to attend.