SoWN is very pleased to have been given responsibility by Lambeth for distributing £1m of Neighbourhood Community Investment Levy (NCiL).
We have already funded September Thursdays at Emma Cons Gardens, which was a great success.
Other projects which we hope to support with this funding include:
strengthening our local community groups with a Volunteer Support project,
supporting our green spaces so that they are even more resilient
increasing involvement in the Sustains Us initiative for a fairer, greener South Bank and Waterloo which will be net Zero by 2030.
developing a retail strategy for Lower Marsh
CiL is a charge which can be levied by local authorities on new development in their area. It is an important tool for local authorities to use to help them deliver the infrastructure needed to support development. It is a payment made by developers when they are granted planning permission. 25% of the total raised is normally set aside as NCIL
When SoWN was established in early 2020 discussion took place with Lambeth on how the Neighbourhood Plan could begin to be delivered. A Council decision was made, to grant £1m to SoWN to promote projects in the Neighbourhood Plan.
The first step was to go back through the Neighbourhood Plan, which had been prepared five years earlier and endorsed by a Referendum in 2019, to refresh the projects and respond to the needs at the time in line with the principles within the Plan. This was carried out by the SoWN Steering Group, which is the policy making arm of SoWN. It has an open membership with just over 30 members comprised of local residents, community groups and organisations, and local businesses.
The Steering Group proposed projects, and these were widely circulated through the SoWN Newsletter and other communication channels to ensure they were supported widely, as well as encouraging further projects that aligned with the Neighbourhood Plan to be proposed.
As a result of this the following projects were selected to be put forward for agreement by the Council
1. North Lambeth/Waterloo Community Volunteer Co-Ordinator – the role is to recruit and support the volunteers in local charitable organisations, particularly Bright Futures, Coin Street, Oasis and St John’s Waterloo.
2. Making South Bank and Waterloo greener – a feasibility study to work out how we could creatively build on all the work that is happening at Bernie Spain Gardens, St John’s Churchyard, Millennium Green, Archbishops Park, Jubilee Gardens and our other green spaces, alongside street and open spaces.
3. Tree planting - working in partnership with Lambeth to increase tree cover
4. Sustainable drainage design to make our area more resistant to flooding
5. South Bank and Waterloo Sustains Us - building involvement in our shared initiative to make the area healthier and more sustainable, and to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
6. Jubilee Gardens Extension – to support the Trust through the planning and development of the next phase
7. Water collection and storage in Jubilee Gardens
8. Waterloo Millennium Green – improvements to the park
9. Hercules Road – a joint project by WeAreWaterloo and LB of Lambeth for environmental improvements
10. Bernie Spain Gardens – seed funding for this important project on the South Bank
11. Lower Marsh Retail Strategy - to develop the retail strategy with partnership with LB of Lambeth and WeAreWaterloo and all local stakeholders
These projects will be administered by a SoWN programme coordinator, funded from the £1m. We are currently recruiting for this post. Further details are here.
In the meantime SoWN and the LB of Lambeth negotiated a Grant Agreement establishing how the money would be administered. Each project has to be scrutinised and approved before the money is released to SoWN. This is an important step given the amount of public money involved.
Currently the Emma Cons project has been delivered and the remaining projects will be rolled out over the next 18 to 24 months. It is hoped this will not be the last of a programme like this.
This funding is alongside our other funding streams - for the Health and Wellbeing projects, earlier this year, and the London Eye Community Chest for which applications are currently being assessed.
SoWN is very appreciative to the members and officers of the LB of Lambeth for making this NCiL available to the Waterloo and South Bank area and entrusting us with this role.