Peter Landman on the People Powered Places initiative that is to be extended for another two years
Amidst the gloom of financial crisis and the threat of bankruptcy, there was one piece of good news from Newham Council last month with confirmation that the showpiece People Powered Places programme will receive a further £1.6million in grants over the next two years to support community-inspired projects across the Borough.
The People Powered Places programme is an exercise in local democracy that encourages people in the community to submit projects that will improve their neighbourhood.
These are reviewed by local Working Groups and voted upon by residents in a participation process involving voluntary sector groups and organised through libraries in eight Newham neighbourhoods. The whole process is supported and guided by Council staff.
The money for the programme will come from the government community infrastructure levy and so is not subject directly, like many other community activities, which depend for support on the Council’s stretched budget.
Community groups and voluntary sector organisations will be invited to submit their project ideas through the Council’s online Co–Create platform. For this year community groups will be encouraged to involve people with disabilities and to encourage more youth
led projects. Half of the funding will go towards projects from groups in the voluntary sector with a quarter going to resident-led activities, and a further quarter to actions led by young people.
Public meetings will be held to decide on priorities and Working Groups, selected by council staff, will score and list potential projects for support which will then be subject to the voting preferences of residents.
Once the selections are confirmed the successful projects are launched at further public meetings.
One supporter in East Ham said, “I’ve found these public meetings to be exhilarating. There is a whole area of my library taken up by project information stalls, which are like marketplaces setting out all the community project ideas.”
The new cycle of PPP activity follows the 2023-2025 cycle which saw the completion of 120 successful projects, a total of 14,000 resident interactions and some 10,000 residents taking part in the voting on project ideas.
One of the key objectives of the programme is to focus on areas of community activity that are sometimes overlooked. Examples in the 2023-2025 cycle included a number of projects supporting groups and minorities including projects helping elderly people avoid scams and criminal exploitation; providing first aid training for youngsters at Sandringham Primary School in Forest Gate; and sports activities to combat the isolation of young people from a refugee and migrant background.
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