Lead Partner: PLANED
Description
During our evidence gathering we were particularly impressed by the track record of the organisation called Pembrokeshire Local Action Network for Enterprise & Development (PLANED) in supporting rural communities in Pembrokeshire to take an asset based approach to regeneration. The Commission visited Narberth, which is a natural employment and service centre for a larger rural community. It lies about a mile from the A40 trunk road. We observed a town that is attractive both to residents and to visitors with its brightly painted houses and range of shops and cafes. It is estimated that the settlement of Narberth has a population of 2350.
Narberth is a significant place for us because there is a history of the community working together to progress ideas and projects over the past 15 years, achieving a visible improvement in the town. Narberth is a good example of a community that values what it has. In 1987 the forerunner to PLANED, TCRI was established covering 18 rural communities in the Narberth area as a community led development partnership."
As far back as 1989, the Narberth Enhancement Committee was established to undertake a community appraisal, and following a public meeting in 1990 an Action Plan called ‘Narberth in the 1990s’ was produced. Most of the opportunities identified in the Plan had been achieved by 1999. Therefore, in 1999, Narberth Enhancement Committee decided on a reappraisal. A new Action Plan was approved in May 2000. A number of specific projects were identified and below are just some of the achievements:
- Enhanced facilities at the Queen’s Hall and Bloomfield
- Community Association formed – Narberth Enhancement Committee
- Local history researched – Interpretative leaflet produced
- Town Centre Enhancement Study
- Town Centre Enhancement Scheme carried out
- Restoration of Narberth Old Town Hall
- Purchase of redundant secondary school by Welsh Development Agency and conversion into managed workshops Four new workshops built at the Old School in the style of the original buildings, making a total of 19 workshops
- Extensive footpath improvements and themed walks created
- Consolidation and opening of Narberth Castle
- More housing for local people
Earlier in 2005 representatives of Narberth Enhancement Committee and PLANED discussed proposals to prepare a ‘third stage’ Action Plan. The intention was to involve all ages and representatives from the various sections of the community in the preparation, adoption and implementation of the Action Plan and to form an active Community Forum. In June 2005 a Community Visioning Exercise was held and by July the results formed the basis for the first draft of the Plan. The Plan is holistic and covers Community Facilities, Community Services and Activities, Environment (including rights of way), Heritage, Commerce (including employment and tourism), Housing, Transport / Roads/ Traffic and Waste Disposal and Recycling.
An indication of community vitality in Narberth can be seen at Bloomfield Community Centre, which is the setting for a wide range of community education classes and youth facilities for local organisations and indoor sports activities, including:
- Courts marked for badminton, squash, basketball, tennis and five-a-side football
- Fitness centre
- After-School club and Ysgol Feithrin play school
- Youth club
- State of the art I.T. and Training Centre
- Learning Pembrokeshire, and Seminar Room
- The County Council's Day Centre, providing social care for the elderly
At Bloomfield there are 46 day and evening classes ranging from languages to the Dyfed Choir, music lessons, gym and aerobics, yoga, kick boxing and martial arts, folk dancing, writing, computer classes and learning conversational French and, of course, Welsh.
We have considered what the ‘critical success factors’ were in the case study of Narberth:
- The drawing up of Community Action Plans to pull together the priorities the Visioning events. The Plan provides an overview of the community and outlines the activities the community would like to see in the future and the organisations needed to help make them happen.
- The establishment of a Community Forum to bring together Town and Community Councils, local organisations, groups and individuals to drive forward the action plan. A Community Forum is usually constituted as a charity and can therefore access funding.
- High level support for the Asset Based approach. For example the Welsh Assembly Government recognises the importance of local people working together to address local problems. One of the aims of the Wales Objective 1 Programme was to ‘harness, enhance and nurture the wealth of community skills, knowledge and ideas available in every rural community through the development of projects and strategies that address local needs’.
- Communities are encouraged to celebrate a ‘sense of place’ - local distinctiveness that makes a communitity special.
- Sustainability is a central concern for every initiative
- The Pembrokeshire Partnership Local Action Plan has a key objective ‘to regenerate communities within Pembrokeshire by facilitating an enterprise culture’ and this is achieved in rural areas through the development of enterprise opportunities based on local resources. This approach is central to the LEADER philosophy deployed by PLANED[1].
In 2002 the Taverstock Institute undertook a case study of Narberth "Why Narberth - How one community regenerated while others fell by the wayside". The study highlighted a number lessons that can be learned from Narberth
There would appear to have been three key elements in the regeneration of Narberth.
- The emergence of a community capacity for self-organisation and action,
- The development of social and cultural facilities and infrastructure,
- The physical refurbishment of the built environment.
How can public policy support and promote community regeneration in rural communities? In summary, Narberth suggests, and experience elsewhere confirms, that it is reasonable to conclude that the key to community regeneration in rural areas lies with:
- Providing local support for the development of local capacity;
- with holistic, social and economic strategies; and
- with equal, responsive partnership between public agencies and local communities.
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[1] Each LEADER programme has six characteristics: It takes an area-based (a rural area with a shared history and tradition and identity) and bottom-up approach encouraging participatory decision-making at the local level. A local partnership (called the Local Action Group) devises a common strategy and innovative actions for the development of a rural area. The plan takes a multi-disciplinary approach, putting forward innovative means of achieving sustainable development by comparison with previous practice. Inter-territorial and Transnational Co-operation and Networking between rural Areas are encouraged
Contact Details
Joan AsbyPLANEDThe Old SchoolhouseStation Road
Narberth
Pembrokeshire
SA67 7DU Tel:01834 860965Email: joana@planed.org.uk
Website: http://www.planed.org.uk/