Town shortlisted as pilot for new Government scheme
Wednesday, 23rd November 2011.
Representatives from Haverhill will be travelling up to Whitehall on Friday to bid for the town to be selected for an important community budget pilot scheme.
Haverhill Town Council is fronting the bid with support from Suffolk County Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council, but the organi9sation which would deliver the scheme would be the newly-constituted One Haverhill.
Town clerk Gordon Mussett had recommended the town council make the bid to become a 'neighbourhood pilot' because it would build on the One Haverhill concept of promoting joint working and resource-sharing between organisations.
But it would also help One Haverhill overcome a stumbling block in the form of the inability of the main authorities to identify what resources they are targeting on Haverhill specifically.
Being a neighbourhood pilot would bring Government pressure to bear on these authorities to unpick exactly where their resources are directed.
Mr Mussett also said it would enhance the reputation of Haverhill locally and nationally, buildon community consultations and enable the targeting of resources locally.
One Haverhill chairman Cllr Anne Gower said the town had now been short-listed and she and Mr Mussett were going to the Department for Communities and Local Government to make their bid on Friday.
It would enable One Haverhill, she said, to 'see what is spent in the town and how we can do it better'.
Haverhill's MP Matthew Hancock has also been highly supportive of the bid, and Cllr Gower said they had some hopes of success because so much of the required structure was already in place in Haverhill.
"Haverhill is so ahead of the game in this," she said. "We shall pitch our best."
If they are successful, the pilot would bring significant extra resources in the form of support for One Haverhill - although no actual cash.
Haverhill Town Council is fronting the bid with support from Suffolk County Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council, but the organi9sation which would deliver the scheme would be the newly-constituted One Haverhill.
Town clerk Gordon Mussett had recommended the town council make the bid to become a 'neighbourhood pilot' because it would build on the One Haverhill concept of promoting joint working and resource-sharing between organisations.
But it would also help One Haverhill overcome a stumbling block in the form of the inability of the main authorities to identify what resources they are targeting on Haverhill specifically.
Being a neighbourhood pilot would bring Government pressure to bear on these authorities to unpick exactly where their resources are directed.
Mr Mussett also said it would enhance the reputation of Haverhill locally and nationally, buildon community consultations and enable the targeting of resources locally.
One Haverhill chairman Cllr Anne Gower said the town had now been short-listed and she and Mr Mussett were going to the Department for Communities and Local Government to make their bid on Friday.
It would enable One Haverhill, she said, to 'see what is spent in the town and how we can do it better'.
Haverhill's MP Matthew Hancock has also been highly supportive of the bid, and Cllr Gower said they had some hopes of success because so much of the required structure was already in place in Haverhill.
"Haverhill is so ahead of the game in this," she said. "We shall pitch our best."
If they are successful, the pilot would bring significant extra resources in the form of support for One Haverhill - although no actual cash.
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