Liveability in the West Midlands

The £89 million liveability fund is part of a £201 million package of measures to improve the local environment announced in February 2003 as part of the Sustainable Communities: Building for the future document.

Worcestershire Liveability Partnership

A consortium of 7 Worcestershire councils (Worcestershire County Council, Worcester City Council, Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Wychavon and Wyre Forest District Councils) were successful in securing Liveability Fund monies.

Projects include;

• Creation of new linear park along the restored Droitwich Canals.

• Regeneration of several urban parks across the county and improved access and facilities at a number of country parks.

• Creation of new and regeneration of existing green spaces - community gardens and other green spaces, allotments, nature reserves.

• Establishment of a network of local service centres providing residents - personal callers, by telephone, or by internet - with 'one-stop' access to a wide range of services provided by the 7 councils and other agencies.
  

The partnership used automated people counters to establish levels of use of key green spaces and monitor and changes in the levels of use. A report is available here which discusses the approaches used.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Dudley's aim is to improve protect and enhance strategic parks and open spaces to form the hub of sustainable community regeneration. The project had four elements:

• Deployment of Local Involvement Officers to support and assist Friends and User Groups in selected parks and green spaces to improve and develop the facilities and activities available.

• "Community Governance" - involving local communities as Champions for their parks with responsibility for managing and maintaining them through local management boards;

• Provision of horticultural training for hard to reach groups in disadvantaged areas using this also as means of delivering maintenance services in partnership with other agencies.

• Physical improvements to potentially 17 parks in the Dudley area as determined by the priorities of the local

• Friends and User Groups. This could include park refurbishment - tree & shrub planting, habitat creation - improved park facilities, access for the disabled.

Coventry City Council

• Further integration of street scene activities including development of street inspectors to address the whole street scene;

• Improved customer access to services;

• Better informed & more responsive service delivery by improving IT infrastructure to give Service Supervisors full access to real time service information;

• Physical improvements to green spaces & street scene across Coventry following local consultation - potentially including enhancing the River Sherbourne corridor, renovation and upgrading of street corner plots, creation of a new 0.3 hectare green space at Weavers Green to encourage recreation play leisure community events and other local activities.