NewHeartlands: The Future Shape of Local Authorities?

One of the most innovative yet least acclaimed initiatives taken by the present Labour Government has been their novel approach to regenerating some of the UK’s most deprived and run down communities.

At the heart of this initiative are nine so called “Pathfinder” organisations; small teams working alongside well established local authority departments, but set up, targeted, and separately funded by national government. In Tom Peters’ parlance, there is a definite whiff of the old Lockheed Corporation “Skunkworks” about them; under resourced, over tasked, but resilient, innovative and (for some people at least) surprisingly productive!

After six years of hard work, the signs of recovery in the community are starting to show, in some parts of Merseyside at least! Disappointingly, much local and national media coverage continues to be dominated by stories about compulsory purchases, enforced relocations, allegations of organised urban vandalism and the systematic destruction of our architectural heritage!

We were impressed when we heard that the Merseyside based Pathfinder, NewHeartlands, had just received its third major tranche of seed capital, after another successful pitch for funding from an increasingly cash constrained Government. We asked them to show us round their patch and to tell us their version of the story so far.

"The story of urban housing in the UK over the last fifty years has fluctuated between large scale demolition and slum clearance, the rise of social housing organisations, the demise of traditional local authority council housing and a multitude of disconnected refurbishment programmes.
Countless millions of pounds have been invested by successive governments and yet the results have been consistently disappointing. Without doubt some people’s lives have been changed for the better, but the underlying poverty, poor housing and marginalisation of whole communities remains a fact of life in too many major UK cities.

It was important to learn from the mistakes of the past and to take a radically different approach to community regeneration this time. The nine Housing Market Renewal “Pathfinders” were created across the north of England with a brief to make a sustained intervention in the housing market over a period of fifteen years. The bold goal was to transform inner cities, and Merseyside was high up on the list of areas in most need of transformation.”

Bold goals necessitate bold approaches! So what has been done differently this time round?

“NewHeartlands has taken a fully integrated approach to community regeneration and renewal. Working across the local authority administrative boundaries (in itself a breakthrough concept!), we can focus in on areas of greatest need in Liverpool, Bootle, and Birkenhead where the local housing market had “completely broken down”. A partnership has been formed that spans across public and private sectors and brings together key agencies and funding streams who have been willing to invest serious money in some of our most deprived neighbourhoods. And this bold approach is beginning to make a visible difference!”

Do what we did and take a look around areas like Anfield, Tranmere, and the Klondyke neighbourhoods. You will see quality new housing developments, investment in environmental improvements, and many existing homes refurbished. You will also see newly cleared and cleaned open spaces and sites where new development and major refurbishment projects are clearly about to begin. But is it just another false dawn for these struggling communities?

“Definitely not! All this work is part of a wider strategy and goes much deeper than the crisis management approaches of previous decades. Where previously low demand and obsolescence ruled, you can now see the green shoots of renaissance appearing.

There is still much work to do before it will be possible to say that our inner city neighbourhoods have been transformed, but the recent funding announcement of £152 million from government is a huge encouragement. This seed capital will enable us to lever in other public and private finance funding in excess of £200 million between 2008 and 2011. It is further tangible evidence that we are deadly serious about this work. It will lift the morale and energy levels of everyone associated with this initiative. It will bring fresh focus and renewed collective determination to the next phase of the programme. But most important, it will bring fresh hope to the communities who have worked so hard for change."

For more information please see www.newheartlands.co.uk, the website of the NewHeartlands Housing Market Renewal Programme.

Richard King, Tom Peters Company