The North West Liveability Foundation Programme History
The idea for the Foundation was developed after repeatedly poor ratings for the North West in Keep Britain Tidy Local Environmental Survey of England which looks at how much litter and grime is on our streets.
In 2005, Keep Britain Tidy completed a feasibility study engaging with almost 200 local organisations and looked at ‘How the North West can achieve the vision of becoming the cleanest, safest and greenest region in England’.
The feasibility study was supported by ;
- Keep Britain Tidy
- North West Development Agency
- North West Regional Assembly
- Government Office for the North West
- Environment Agency
- RENEW (Centre for Excellence)
- Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
- Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.
One of the recommendations of this feasibility study identified a need for a Regional Liveability Foundation which would bring together all activities on this agenda in one place, with a structured programme of activity to drive up standards within the region.
Before a Foundation was to be considered for a roll out across the whole of the North West, the regional partners that we’re involved agreed that the approach should first be piloted.
Organisations across the North West region were invited to bid for inclusion. Applications were encouraged from a range of land managers so that the programme could be fully tested. This would include local authorities large and small from urban and more rural settings along with housing associations.
The Future of the Pilot
Following the proven success of the pilot year Keep Britain Tidy is expanding the programme across the whole of the North West, offering all land managers and partners an opportunity to be involved and duplicating the pilot improvements across the whole of the region.
A conference was held in March 2008 to discuss the outcomes from that pilot which ran until the end of November 2007 and consider recommendations for the future. This included feedback from the pilot partners and presentations by Defra, the North West Regional Development Agency and the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NWIEP). It concluded with the introduction of the proposed model of the expanded North West Liveability Foundation for feedback and technical review.
The North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership’s three year strategy establishes environmental quality as an improvement priority. In July 2008, funding from NWIEP was confirmed.
A celebratory event held on November 11th 2008 in Bolton marked the launch of the second phase of the North West Liveability Foundation.
Key Dates in the NWLF development:
2005
Feasibility Study completed
March 2006
Conference and invitation to bid for inclusion to the NWLF Pilot programme
1st November 2006 - 30th November 2007
Pilot programme delivered
March 2008
Final pilot report and programme evaluation circulated
13th March 2008
NWLF Roll-out Consultation Conference
July 2008
NWIEP funding secured
August 2008
Sub regional briefings held to inform potential partners
October 2008
Environment Agency Funding Secured
11th November 2008
North West Liveability Foundation Launch Event