Ways of neighbourhood working and knowing

本次系列研讨会的背景是2011年《地方主义法案》的介绍。从那时起，在教区委员会不存在的地方，当地居民（或企业）可以建立社区论坛来合作。正如戴维•卡梅伦（David Cameron）在2010年关于“大社会”（Big Society）的演讲中所说的那样：“我们需要创建充满活力的社区——这些社区能够掌控自己的命运，他们觉得如果他们团结起来，参与进来，他们就能塑造周围的世界。”一旦这些正式的分组到位，居民就可以准备一个社区计划，并有一个框架（尽管这不是必需的）来允许建造新房子（“建造权”）或投标承包地方政府服务（“挑战权”）。在这种版本的地方主义下，社区有权“塑造自己的位置”。在许多方面，这些倡议延伸了以前的政策，以解决社区发展和基于地方的劣势。例如，工党的旗舰项目“社区新政”（New Deal for Communities）促进了公民对治理和积极公民身份的参与，让社区成员参与到每个计划的设计和实施中。然而，这些倡议得到了非常慷慨的资助，并针对最贫穷的人。总共有39个相对较小的地区平均每个获得5000万英镑，针对多种贫困指标，包括就业前景差、犯罪率高、教育成绩差、健康状况差以及住房质量差和自然环境差。目前“紧缩地方主义”的提法没有提供如此广泛的资金，也没有针对最需要的社区。它适用于所有地方。例如，最近提供了950万英镑，用于支持2013-2025年的社区规划倡议，任何社区或教区委员会都可以使用。到目前为止，使用这些资金和专业帮助与社区合作、制定社区规划的“领跑者”社区，都是网络良好、社会资源丰富的社区。同样，根据新引入的“投标权”，当地居民可以申请将“社区资产”列入名单，使他们能够自己筹集资金购买房产。这一权利使得一些社区可以通过社区分享和公共资金（包括建筑遗产基金和社会投资商业集团）筹集资金来拯救酒吧（以Nunhead的常春藤为例）。伯翰姆伍德相比之下,在最近,Hertsmere自治委员会“退市”的皇冠酒吧吸引开发人员拥有它,说两个清单未能满足进一步发展的必然要求,社会福利和当地社区的利益,质疑“拯救皇冠”组织是社区的代表,更重要的是,没有证据表明该集团能够筹集足够的钱来保持它的启动和运行。开发商Woodhall LLP现在可以以最高的价格出售酒吧的任何用途。这是全国趋势的一部分。“真啤酒运动”（CAMRA）表示，自2008年初以来，已有超过5500家酒吧关门，目前每周有18家关门。然而，这也让人们对卡梅伦所说的王室附近居民“塑造自己位置”的能力产生了怀疑。然而，尽管存在对邻里工作和地方主义的担忧，但也有乐观情绪。社区也有机会利用这一框架为社区开发新的倡议，共同提供当地服务或促进公共土地上的自建计划。社区中以艺术为基础的倡议已经找到了以不太正式的方式建立复原力和促进社区参与的方法，带来了较少的声音参与者。这一系列的研讨会将探讨社区工作方式所带来的批评和机会。

The background for this seminar series lies in the introduction of Localism Act 2011. Since then, wherever parish councils do not exist, local people (or businesses) can set up neighbourhood forums to work collaboratively. As David Cameron put it in a 2010 speech on the Big Society: "We need to create communities with oomph - neighbourhoods who are in charge of their own destiny, who feel if they club together and get involved they can shape the world around them". Once these formal groupings are in place, residents can prepare a neighbourhood plan and have a framework (though this is not required) to permit the building of new houses ("the right to build") or to bid for the contract to run local authority services ("the right to challenge"). Under this version of localism, neighbourhoods are empowered to "shape their place". In many ways these initiatives extend previous policies to address community development and place-based disadvantage. Labour's flagship programme, the New Deal for Communities, for example, promoted citizen involvement in governance and active citizenship, involving community members in each scheme's design and delivery. However, these initiatives were very generously funded and were aimed at the poorest. In all, 39 relatively small areas received an average of £50 million each, targeting multiple indicators of deprivation including poor job prospects, high crime rates, educational-underachievement, poor health as well as poor quality housing and physical environment.The current formulation of "austerity localism" does not provide such extensive funding and is not targeted at the neighbourhoods most in need. It applies to all places. For example, the £9.5million, which has recently been made available to support neighbourhood planning initiatives in 2013-2025, is available to any neighbourhood or parish council. So far, the "frontrunner" communities who have used these funds and the professional help available to work with their community, drawing up their neighbourhood plan, have been communities that are well networked and socially resourced.Similarly, under the newly introduced "right to bid", local residents can apply to have a "community asset" listed, enabling them to raise the money to buy the property themselves. This right has let some communities to raise money to save pubs, both through community share offers and through public funding including from the Architecture Heritage Fund and the Social Investment Business Group (in the case of The Ivy, at Nunhead). In contrast, in Borehamwood, recently, Hertsmere Borough Council 'de-listed' the Crown pub on an appeal by the developers who owned it, saying both that the listing failed to meet the necessary requirement of furthering the social wellbeing and interests of the local community, questioning whether the "Save the Crown" group were representative of the community and, more significantly, that there was no evidence that the group would be able to raise enough money to keep it up and running. The developers, Woodhall LLP, are now able to sell the pub for any use for the highest price. This is part of a national trend. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), suggest that over 5,500 pubs have closed since start of 2008, with 18 currently closing a week. It also, however, casts doubt on the ability of the residents near the Crown to "shape their place" as Cameron suggests.Yet despite these concerns about neighbourhood working and localism, there is also optimism. There are also opportunities for communities to use this framework for neighbourhoods to develop new initiatives, co-produce local services or promote self-build schemes on publicly owned land. Arts-based initiatives in communities have found ways to build resilience and promote community engagement in less formal ways, bringing in less vocal participants. This series of seminars will explore both the criticisms and the opportunities offered by neighbourhood ways of working.