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Southwark Council and Aylesbury NDC agree partnership to safeguard Aylesbury regeneration
13 February 2008
The Aylesbury regeneration is to continue without delay after an important decision by Southwark Council and the Aylesbury New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme
In a major step forward, they have both agreed a funding arrangement to ensure the regeneration scheme is not delayed as initially feared.
The council had considered withdrawing the funds for the Aylesbury Delivery Team because the council received a grant settlement from central government far lower than expected forcing them to make over £35 million of savings over the next three-years.
Following a board meeting on Monday, the NDC and Southwark Council have agreed that NDC resources will be used to secure costs for the Aylesbury Delivery team for the next six years.
At the same time the council will work with the NDC and its successor body Creation Trust to ensure that NDC funding will also be used to bring forward early regeneration activity that will benefit the local community and the council.
The legal agreement will include:
- council support for the use of the oustanding NDC funds
- secured funds for the project delivery team for the next six-years
- how the council and the residents of the local area will approach government agencies to secure additional long-term funding
- further strengthening of the already successful partnership between the council and the residents of the Aylesbury area – through the Creation Trust Board
Chair of the NDC Partnership Board and Director of the Creation Trust, Tony Taitte, said:
“We have reached an agreement with the council that is good for the residents of this area and the council as a whole. The council gets certainty that the funds will be available to keep the scheme going. Residents get confidence that the scheme will keep moving forward for the next 6 years by which time it will become unstoppable and all of this is agreed in a spirit of partnership working that will see residents continuing to work alongside the council to ensure we get a regeneration scheme that meets our needs. That is what genuine partnership working is all about.”
Cllr Nick Stanton, leader of Southwark Council, said: “I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the residents of the Aylesbury for the positive and constructive way they have responded in this time of uncertainty.
“The council has always remained totally committed to the Aylesbury, but the poor settlement we received from the government forced us to look at how much we could afford to put towards the project.
“Our agreement with the NDC has safeguarded the scheme. We still need government support, but I’m confident it will want to back the community.”
