Communities and Place Workstream

The Community and Place investment priority, set out by the UK government, has two main objectives: ​

1. Strengthening our social fabric and fostering a sense of local pride and belonging through investment in activities that enhance physical, cultural and social ties and access to amenities, such as community infrastructure and local green space, and community-led projects.​
2. Building resilient, healthy and safe neighbourhoods, through investment in quality places that people want to live, work, play and learn in, through targeted improvements to the built and natural environment or innovative approaches to crime prevention.​

In order to help achieve these objectives South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils have recruited a Pride in Place Relationship Manager to work closely with Town and Parish councils to create, manage and enable effective two-way communication between tiers of local Government and help identify and deliver on local opportunities. ​

We are continuing to work with local organisations and volunteer groups to help them achieve their community objectives and understand the challenges they are facing. In order to support this work, the councils have developed a Pride in Place Community Grant Scheme, that enables Town/Parish councils, charitable and voluntary organisations to bid for grant funding, either capital, revenue or feasibility, to deliver thought out proposals that create local solutions to local problems or provide funding for local opportunities. The scheme will enable feasibility studies to be undertaken to understand local needs to develop appropriate community facilities, support the development of new or existing community facilities and improve community engagement and encourage volunteering.​

South Norfolk Council knows that community assets are important to residents when they consider how they feel about, relate to, and take pride in their local area. South Norfolk Council’s scheme The Community Infrastructure Fund Programme enables local communities (working alongside Town and Parish Councils) to access interest-free loans to make key infrastructure projects and ideas a reality, with the loan secured against future Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) income based on planned development. Capital funding, will therefore be available to expand and enhance this offer, which could include providing match funding to Town and Parish Councils for key pieces of infrastructure. ​