Sustainable Communities

Rural Centres Project (Phase 2)

"A scheme to enable larger rural communities in Leicestershire to reassess and regenerate their settlements"

The Rural Centres Project has delivered Healthcheck Action Plans in Thurmaston and Broughton Astley and will in its second phase deliver Action Plans in Earl Shilton and Bottesford. The project will then support each community in the management and delivery of Action Plan projects.

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Completion Date: 29/04/2007

Location

Thurmaston (Charnwood), Broughton Astley (Harborough), Earl Shilton (Hinckley & Bosworth) and Bottesford (Melton)

Project Description

Through funding from the LSEP and the Leicestershire Rural Partnership this project is now able to continue from the 'Healthcheck' stage into the all-important development stage. Key areas highlighted in their 'Action Plans' will now hopefully be translated into positive outcomes for the benefit of those who live in these communities - Jeremy Prescott, Director, Rural Community Council (Leicestershire & Rutland)

The Rural Centres project is now in the final year of its initial three-year phase and with support from the LRP and the LSEP will continue until 2007. The project is designed to focus on four diverse settlements across the county to enable their residents to improve the local community.

Healthchecks
The process begins with a 'Healthcheck' supported by the Countryside Agency and District Council, which entails comprehensive assessment and consultation of the local community. From the results of the Healthcheck, the community can develop a series of projects that comprise an Action Plan.

Thurmaston Healthcheck Action Group
The second year of the project saw the Thurmaston Healthcheck Action Group evolve to manage the projects in the Action Plan, which have included providing new notice boards throughout the village, supporting the preliminary stages of a feasibility study for a new community centre and developing a disused chapel into a local history exhibition space. Thurmaston Healthcheck Action Group is now a fully constituted organisation that draws its membership from a wide section of the community. The group will receive the continued support of the Rural Centres Project Manager to assist them in developing the Action Plan projects.

Broughton Astley Healthcheck Action Group
Broughton Astley Healthcheck Action Group are currently organising a launch event to celebrate the arrival of their Action Plan. The Healthcheck process was extended to include a detailed survey on traffic management in the area, as this arose as a major issue for the community. The group is currently managing several of the Action Plan projects including a multi-media arts youth project, a number of environmental improvement schemes and the development of a village business directory. In the coming months the group hopes to investigate possible resolutions to the problems with congestion in the village centre.

Earl Shilton and Bottesford
2004 will see Healthchecks completed in Earl Shilton and Bottesford, engaging each community in the consultation process. The experience gained from Thurmaston and Broughton Astley will prove invaluable in informing this phase of the Rural Centres Project which will have delivered four successful community Action Plans by the end of the year.

Outcomes

Action Groups and Plans

• The project aims to facilitate the development of self-sustaining Action Groups that will continue to deliver projects after the project culminates in 2007.
• When all four Action Plans are delivered by the end of 2004, the Rural Centres Project Manager will work to build capacity and expertise within each Action Group to enable them to develop and generate funding for new projects that evolve from the Action Plans.
• Action Plans are designed to work thematically, so that projects are interlinked and evolutionary. The project aims to provide training opportunities, economic renewal initiatives and community-based improvements that are interrelated and interactive.

The future

• Future projects will include: the development of tourism opportunities in Thurmaston village centre; and a reassessment of traffic flow and environmental assets in Broughton Astley.

Project Contacts

Project manager:
Sallie Wocha
Tel: 0116 268 9711
E-mail: swocha@ruralcc.org.uk
Website: www.ruralcc.org.uk

LSEP contact:
Gill Smitherman
E-mail: gills@lsep.co.uk
Website: www.lsep.co.uk