Community Links

Yesterday Parliament’s All Party Urban Development Group published a report on regeneration; specifically the impact that physical regeneration can have on local employment.  (Thanks to Kevin Harris whose Neighbourhoods blog alerted me to this publication).

Last autumn we at Community Links put together our own analysis of the physical regeneration taking place around us in the London Borough of Newham, home to the new 2012 London Olympics site. Our Social Change booklet on Regeneration is available for free download (or email me for  a printed copy). Much of what we considered is reflected in this weeks APUDG report. They also list in the bibliography a report we produced jointly with new economics foundation (nef) about the Olympic development entitled Fools Gold.

The current economic climate means that the large scale physical redevelopments currently underway in east London are unlikely to be repeated. This makes it all the more important to ensure that local people are able to benefit fully from the community regeneration legacy with long-term, sustainable jobs providing quality training and good prospects.

Our regeneration report suggested that Section 106 agreements could be better used. Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows an agreement between developers and planning authority to deliver specified community benefit. Our view is that S106 should be used to ensure the benefit to communities both in infrastructural developments but also in ongoing revenue support of community activity. 

The new report this week from APUDG concurs that S106 could be helpful in providing local people with jobs and that it is important to ensure these jobs are sustainable after physical regeneration is complete.

Regeneration is about so much more than shiny new buildings, now more than ever it is vital that we seize this a once in a lifetime opportunity to get it right for the communities of east London.