Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Contents Page

Introduction by Chair of the Partnership 3

Big Local ? 4

Map of the Arches Big Local Area 5

Community Profile 6 - 13

Thoughts from the Community 14

Developing the Plan 15

Social Investment 16 - 17

Open Spaces & The Environment 18

Private Rented Sector Housing 19

Getting More Active 20

Whole Community 21

Changing Behaviour 22

Partnership Development & Delivery 22

The Budget 23 – 24

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Introduction by Lindsay Robinson, Chair of the Arches Local

Partnership.

Once again it has been my pleasure to Chair the steering

group for the Arches Local. What a year it has been with so
many successes. My personal highlight was seeing how our
“pocket park has developed and the positive change that
has rippled out to the surrounding area. It has been great
seening so many local residents getting involved there.

The list of people to thank has grown longer this year and
again to many to mention here, but if any of those people
are reading this please take a moment to reflect on the
great things we have achieved, thanks to you getting
involved. It is truly inspirational to see just what can be
achieved by bringing our community together.

Again, thank you must go to Stephen Perez. Without your

willingness to step up, your time and investment we could
have certainly strayed off course. On behalf of the
partnership, I want you to know that we really appreciate
your continued efforts.

Its been another fantastic year where we consolidated much

of what we achieved in our first year and more. We still have
a great deal to accomplish but I feel if we continue in this
vein all things are possible.
Lindsay Robinson.

THE BIG PICTURE

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Big Local?

The first Big Local areas were announced in 2010 and

the programme runs until 2027. It is the biggest ever
resident-led place-based funding programme,
committing at least £1m of funding to each of 150 ‘left
behind’ neighbourhoods across England.

Throughout the Big Local Journey, Local Trust (the

foundation set up to deliver Big Local) has been
reflecting on what it has learnt to date.

- How do you define ‘community’

and ‘place’?

- How important is civic infrastructure to

achieving success?

- How long can it take to build trust?

- Most importantly, what can communities

achieve when given patient, long term funding
and the freedom to make decisions
for themselves?

Residents have identified the issues that matter most in

their community and they’re working with those they
trust to deliver local solutions – tackling everything
from unemployment and poor-quality housing, to low
levels of community cohesion and a lack of
opportunities for young people.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Map of the Arches Local Area

Community Profile

The information in this section gives an overview of the Arches area, based on data freely available
from published sources. For the purposes of providing this overview, the Arches neighbourhood area
has been defined as the Lower Super Output Areas of:

1. Medway 15E
2. Medway 20B
3. Medway 20D

Lower Super Output Areas are a geography that has been created to produce statistics for the 2001
and 2011 Censuses (see:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/geography/ukgeographies/censusgeography#super-output-
area-soa for more information). They do not represent ‘neighbourhoods’ as the definition of a
neighbourhood varies from person-to-person. However, for ease of reference, the three LSOAs are
referred to as the ‘Arches neighbourhood’. These three areas, while not an exact match to the actual
Arches area, provide the best approximation for which some interesting data are available.

For health indicators, some data are only available for Middle Super Output Areas. MSOAs are
aggregations of LSOAs. To approximate the Arches neighbourhood, two MSOAs have been used, but
it should be borne in mind these cover a much wider area than the actual Arches neighbourhood.
These are marked with an asterisk (*) in the text below.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Map 1: Lower Super Output Areas and Middle Super Output Areas covering the Arches area

Community Profile Summary

Analysis by the Office for National Statistics using Census data for the Arches local area groups the
neighbourhoods into two main clusters of households. The ‘Constrained Neighbourhoods’ group,
that are households more likely to live in terraced properties, who were slightly more likely to work
in manufacturing industries, and households more likely to own two or more cars; and the ‘private
renting new arrivals group’ who are residents who were more likely to have been born in other EU
countries and households more likely to be living in private rented accommodation, but still living in
terraced housing.

The Arches Big Local area in Medway has been classified as one of the most deprived areas in
England. In the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), the three areas of Medway 15E, Medway
20B and Medway 20D that have been used to define the area were ranked as the 228, 1203 and
1050 most deprived neighbourhoods out of 32,844 in England. All three neighbourhoods were
ranked relatively poorly on income, employment and crime, with Medway 015E also ranking poorly
on health deprivation, and Medway 20D on children’s outcomes (as the 17th most deprived
neighbourhood in the country).

There are relatively high levels of poverty in the area. In 2014, around 40% of children aged under 16
were in low income families in the Arches area, compared to the Medway average of 21% and the

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

England average of around 20%. The Arches figure for 2012 was 36% suggesting some increase in
levels of poverty on this measure over those 3 years.

However, this should not detract from some of the positive stories derived from an analysis of the
data. For example, the Arches area and its position in the Medway area means the neighbourhoods
are ranked relatively highly in the part of the IMD that measures geographical barriers (i.e.
geography is not a barrier); evidence from the Census suggests a growing, and ethnically diversifying
population; and analysis of benefit claimants shows that claimant rates are on a downward trend
over recent years.

Overview of the population

In mid-2015, the population of the Arches neighbourhood was estimated to be around 5,100 people.
The population had increased steadily since 2001 when it was around 4,400 people, an increase of
16% from 2001 to 2015. This represented a faster rate of growth than the wider Medway local
authority that grew by 11% in the same time period. The Arches population in 2015 did represent a
slight decrease from the figure in 2014.

While the population has been steadily increasing, there has also been a subtle shift in the age
profile of the population as well. In 2001, around 63% of the Arches population were aged 16 to 64;
in 2015, this had increased to 67%. In 2003, around 12% of the population were aged over 64; in
2015 this share had decreased to 9%.

Total population in Arches, 2001 to 2015 Age profile of Arches in 2015

As well as changes in the age profile, there has also been a significant change in the ethnic profile of
the population in the Arches area. In the 2001 Census, around 87% of the population classed
themselves as ‘White British’. In 2011, the population had become more ethnically diverse; the
proportion of ‘White British’ had decreased to 65% while the proportion who classed themselves as
‘White other’ grew from 1% to 13% over the same period. The ‘White other’ group excludes White

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Irish people, but would include White people from other areas of Europe. The proportion in other
ethnic groups doubled from 11% to 22%.

In terms of household type, the highest proportion of people (23%) lived in households with a
married couple and dependent children, but this proportion was lower than the Medway average of
27%. Similarly, the proportion of people living in married couples with no children (6%) was lower
than the Medway average of 10%. The Arches area did, however, have a higher proportion of one
person households (those without children) and lone parent households.

Ethnic breakdown in Arches, 2001 and 2011 Household composition in Arches, 2011 (% of
residents in each household type)

Qualifications
The level of highest qualifications in the Arches area is lower than that of the Medway or England
average. In 2011, 29% of residents aged 16 and over had no qualifications, compared to an average
of 23% in Medway and 22% in England. 42% of people aged 50-64 had no qualifications in the Arches
area. That said, for the age group from 25 to 49, a higher proportion had at least level 4
qualifications (this is a degree or above) that had no qualifications.

Interestingly, Arches did have significantly higher proportions than the Medway average of people
with ‘other qualifications’ that would include qualifications gained in other countries – this generally
reflects the diversity of the population as described above.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Similarly, exam results in the Arches area have been lower than in Medway as a whole. In 2013/14,
around 40% of Arches students (*) achieved 5 A*-C grades at GCSE level including English & Maths,
compared to 57% in Medway as a whole.

% of Arches residents with no qualifications, % of Arches residents with at least level 4

2011 qualifications (degree or higher), 2011

The labour force in the Arches area

In 2011, around 53% of people living in the Arches area aged 16+ were in employment, around 10%
were unemployed, and 37% were inactive (students, retired or long-term sick or disabled).

The Arches employment rate was lower than the rate for Medway as a whole (60%). For almost all
age groups, and for men and women, employment rates in the Arches area were lower, and the
proportion of people unemployed was higher than the Medway average.7

Employment rates for men in 2011 Employment rates for women in 2011

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

While some Arches residents commute to jobs outside of the area, there were around 685 jobs in
the Arches area in 2015, down from 1,075 in 2011. With a population aged 16-64 of 3,400 people in
2015, this means there was a “job density” of around 1 job in the area for every 5 residents.

Jobs in the health, education, accommodation and food services and retail industries constituted
most of the jobs in the area. Employment surveys counted 100 retail jobs in 2015 compared to 300
the year before, the biggest change over the year.

Arches have a relatively high benefit claimant rate. The rate, covering people claiming any of the
range of income-related benefits as a proportion of the population aged 16-64, reached a high of
35% in November 2011 – that is, over 1 in every 3 people in the Arches area were claiming at least
one of the major benefits. However, since that time there have been encouraging signs as the
claimant rate has dropped almost every quarter to 28% in November 2015.

The rate has consistently tracked at about twice the rate for Medway as a whole over the same time
period.

Arches benefit claimant rate Arches benefit claimant rate as a ratio of

Medway benefit claimant rate

Housing and the built up area

The 2011 Census recorded around 2,100 household spaces in the Arches neighbourhood. Around
10% of these spaces had no usual resident. Over half of the spaces were terraced houses, with a
further 30% being classed as purpose built flats.

According to Council Tax statistics for 2015, of the 2,300 properties registered for Council Tax, nearly
half were built pre-1900. In fact, in the area of Medway 020D (that between Chatham Hill and Luton
Road) 600 of the 800 properties on the Council Tax register were built pre-1900.

A measure of overcrowding is the occupancy rating. This is the number of bedrooms minus the
number of people living in the household (adjusted to take account of the composition of the
family). An occupancy rating of -1 means there was one more person in the household than there
were bedrooms.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

In the Arches neighbourhood in 2011, about 8% of household spaces were overcrowded on this
measure. This varied by the type of residence. Around 15% of private rented household spaces were
overcrowded. About 9% of white people lived in overcrowded accommodation on this definition, but
the rate for some ethnic groups was much higher. For example, 33% of people in the ‘White Other’
ethnic group lived in overcrowded accommodation. In Medway as a whole, about 7% of people lived
in overcrowded accommodation.

As well as some general issues with parking in the Arches area, the road junction at the Arches itself
is a busy junction. Department for Transport traffic counts showed that there were over 20,000
vehicles a day entering the junction in 2015.

Percentage of different housing types in the Proportion of households overcrowded in the

Arches neighbourhood in 2011 Arches area in 2011

Health
The 2011 Census showed that in the Arches area, 76% of adults rated themselves as being good or
very good health, not very different from the 82% in the wider Medway area. On other health
indicators, such as the proportion of healthy eating adults (around 21% to 24%) and the proportion
of obese adults (around 29% to 31%), the rates were broadly similar to the wider Medway area. It
should be noted that these data are from 2008, but the latest available.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Health of the population in Arches area, 2011 Healthy life expectancy in years in Arches and
Medway, 2009-2013

However, on some health indicators, the Arches area (*) has historically performed significantly
worse than the surrounding area. Statistics from Public Health England show that the healthy life
expectancy for men and women in the area (around 55 for men, and 58 for women, averaged over
2009 to 2013) was 7 or 8 years lower than the 63 for men and 64 for women in Medway as a whole.

Rates of regular smoking for 15, 16 and 17 year olds in the Arches area were higher than Medway
(for the average of years 2009 to 2012). The proportion of binge drinking adults (20%) was higher
than Medway (17%) and the rates of hospital admissions for alcohol-related illness and self-harm
were more than twice the rate in Medway for the average of the years 2010/2014.

*Luton Millennium Green Wild Flower Meadow May 2017

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Crime
The Arches neighbourhoods rank in the top 5% most deprived neighbourhoods in the country on the
crime domain. Reported crime statistics from the police show that over the period between January
2011 and March 2017, there were approximately 116 crimes on average reported per month in the
area.

The number of crimes reported decreased until 2013 and then stayed relatively flat until 2016. In
recent months there have been signs of an upward trend in reported crimes. The type of crimes
being reported have changed though: in 2011, over half of crimes reported were for anti-social
behaviour. By 2017, this had dropped to around 30%. However, violent crimes (and sexual offences)
had risen from around 13% of crimes reported in 2011 to over 30% in 2017.

Of course, these are crimes reported to have taken place in the Arches area. We don’t know
whether the perpetrators were from within the area or outside.

Number of crimes reported in the Arches area, % of crimes in Arches area that were ASB, or
2011-2017 (monthly rolling average) violent crimes, 2011 to 2017

*Luton Road Shoppers Car Park October 2016

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 Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Thoughts from the Community

Talking to local people there are a variety of views expressed about our area: please find below the
themes brought up to our community researchers; in green what they like, in red thing people don’t
like, and in blue things, they would like to change.

*information gathered
from Summer Event July
2017 at Luton Millennium
Green

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Developing the Plan

(Gaining a better understanding)

Through delivering the different strands of the year 2 plan the partnership has developed a better
understanding of the local issues and the impact of our actions i.e. the positive outcomes from the
development of a pocket park at Luton Millennium Green in galvanising the community and
challenging those negative stereotypes of this area.

From the successful engagement events held throughout the year, our community researchers
(made up from people living in the area) have once again spoken to those that have attended.
Though the themes they have been recorded are like those spoken about in previous years. We have
seen a change in comments about future aspirations for the area brought about we feel in part from
the changes we as a community have brought about in the area from successfully delivering
elements of the Years 1-2 plans. People are no longer just raising issues, but now voicing opinions,
and solutions on how we can together address what they have raised. We are also hearing less from
people on why they plan or want to move out of the area, which was one of the few aspirations
often recorded in the past. People from coming together helped by Arches Local are sharing their
experiences and beginning to acknowledge that there are positives to living in the area. We are also
developing better relationships and discovering commonality, which has led to us being more honest
in our conversations with each other, about ourselves and the area. i.e. Financial hardship, health
problems, barriers to being active.

The partnership has once again listened to the local voice and accept that our work is not done
addressing all the issues that have been recorded and delivered within the year 1 and 2 plan we are
keeping to the previous year’s core themes. We are bolstered with what we have learnt and
experienced over the last 2 years, where appropriate you will see in the year 3 plan we have been
looking at different ways of solving and delivering the planned outcomes contained within each
priority. We plan once again to be flexible in our delivery working on the belief of “Change the Plan
never the Goal”

The grammar of change: Big Local

neighbourhoods in action
By David Boyle
September 2017

"The fear of regret sometimes paralyses people from doing anything at all, because
to have done nothing means you have to regret nothing. We need to give people the
opportunity to get things wrong - and to do something."

Stephen, Arches Big Local area, Medway.

http://localtrust.org.uk/assets/downloads/documents/The_Grammar_of_Change_essay_singepages.pdf

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Social Investment
(Developing a better Local Economy)

Through the development of our Community Economic Development Plan around the theme of
having a Community Market at the Luton Road Shoppers Car Park, which was supported by DCLG,
Locality, New Economic Foundation, COOP’s UK. We discovered that local people did not just need
help with personal development but that the area also needed to be better developed economically
to support people with opportunities, so an approach was needed that helped addressed both
issues.

In local conversations inspired by addressing the anti-social issues present at the Luton Road
Shopper’s Car Park, the idea of hosting a market at the site of Luton Shoppers Car Park was a
becoming a repeated theme. It was felt that the market would be a great mechanism for promoting
social investment in the area. Where people living locally could be given support and opportunities
to set up stalls, improving opportunities for employment, plus keeping local money sticky. It would
also act as a mechanism on a regular basis to empty out part or all the car park and dissuade those
currently using it anti-socially

Considering that the Chatham Tesco superstore which

closed recently and the CO-OP on Luton Road leaving on
20th of February 2016 it would provide an alternative
venue for local people especially those with poor mobility
to purchase produce locally, act as a point where the
community could meet and engage in a positive
environment. It could also be used as a mechanism for
local people to gain skills that could improve
opportunities for further employment, or lead to new
local businesses occupying a lot of derelict shop space on
Luton Road and the surrounding area.

The partnership will further progress the concept of

hosting a market at this site using funding to develop the
following market ideas which include;

- Consider setting up the market company as a CIC

this facilitates several things including the
strategic shaping of the market being connected
closely with the Arches Local priorities and the
revenue from the market being invested straight
back into the community

- Ensure there is a great marketing strategy for the market: good online strategy, invest in
decent pictures, make sure someone is taking a strong lead

- Have a *big launch*

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

- Ensure that relationships are developed and nurtured between the market traders, and the
existing traders on the high street
(for example – joint marketing
strategy? Offering customers
who’ve shopped at the market a
discount on high street shops or
vice versa?)

- Run training on general

skills required for the market
trading to encourage plenty of
take-up by potential traders

- Make a commitment to
offering demand-led training,
including basic business skills,
specific market-related skills,
improving quality

- Undertake some specific work on how to get businesses interconnecting – supporting each
other

- Bring in creative and arts-based work

Through the work carried out my METCIC supported by Arches Local the partnership has seen local
people be targeted and engaged to improve their Maths and English leading to some participants
finding employment we would like to further develop this relationship around;

- Basic ESOL, numeracy, literacy;

- Gaining employment;

We have secured “The Arches” community space on Luton Road Adjacent

to the Luton Road Shoppers Car Park which sits behind it. We plan to use
this location as a focal point for Arches Local activities in particular
delivering elements that support better social investment in the area. This
will help better develop the local economy encouraging in the long term
that the shops and facilities in the area reflect the following local needs;

- local workforce and residents are committed to the local economy

- people love the place! And want to live here
- there is a varied demographic shopping in all the shops (not segregated)
- There is a good mix of businesses, including
 Some chains
 Some fresh, good food including café/s
 Some bespoke shops
 Affordable groceries
 Street food
- Businesses are good at engaging with the local community

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Open Spaces & The Environment

(Creating more friendly spaces)

The partnership will consolidate the success it

has had increasing and improving the access to
open spaces locally plus encouraging the use of
them through the past development of Luton
Millennium Green Pocket Park and its
surrounding area. Though much of the ongoing
maintenance of the pocket park has been carried
out by the local community which has been
supported by Arches Local, this has led to people
feeling more invested in the park. The
partnership would like to carry out a piece of
work around gaining a better understanding of
Community Right to Challenge, whereas a group
we could express an interest in bidding to run a relevant council service and the process of
Community Asset Transfer being the transfer of management and/or ownership of public land and
buildings from its owner (usually a local authority) to a community organisation.

We would also like to make funding available to be used to match against other potential funding
bids i.e. DCLG, Heritage Lottery Funding, or to directly further develop in partnerships open spaces in
the area with Town Hall Gardens park being identified as a priority, in line with Local needs.

The continued issues raised locally about the visual appearance of the area especially around the
Luton Arches about its general cleanliness, the road and general layout which can promote antisocial
behaviour, and the wider problems in the whole area with fly tipping. We would like to carry out
further work to address these issues and increased use of the recycling centre situated at the Luton
Road Shoppers Car Park better developing the services currently provided there which have
historically been very underused matching the offering there to local need, leading to;

- People travelling less reducing their carbon footprint and better utilising current onsite
recycling facilities i.e shared skips for taking away community and market refuse on market
days.
- Reduce fly tipping in the area the area is more visually attractive and promotes wellbeing.
- Introduction of Electric Car Charging Points (Future Proofing the area)

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Private Rented Sector Housing

(Better Develop and Shape the Future to local need)

There has been a continued increase in the number of people renting from the private rented
sector across the Arches Local area. Properties continue to change occupancy frequently often
because their short-term tenancies end or often because the landlord perceives he can get more
rent elsewhere. This instability locally has added to the lack of community spirit and impacts
negatively on peoples mental and physical wellbeing. This high turnover has also led to more
letting agent boards and more dumping of waste or ‘bagging out’, when people are forced to
leave properties quickly.

In the previous year’s plans there has been funding available to carry out a piece of work
examining

The effect of poorly managed private rented housing in the area currently influences:
- environment;
- experience of the area;
- community cohesion;
- health and the wider determinants of health;
- anti-social behaviour and their policing of the area;
- perception of the area by both local residents and visitors.

The partnership has found it difficult to find an organisation or individual to carry out the work
without a vested interest locally in the Private Rented Sector and with them still being able to
accurately capture impact locally.

There has in parts of the Arches Local area been a large conversion of commercial building
including office blocks to multiple occupancy single dwelling often of very poor quality and living
standards. These developments appear to be unchecked and clearly not supporting the needs of
Arches Local community, they often compound the problems locally on the already
oversubscribed services locally and lack of space. The increase in these single room/bedrooms
dwelling have coincided with some GP surgeries within the area no longer registering new
patients and the increases in antisocial behaviour around fly tipping, parking and organised
gangs.

From the conversations, together as a community and with Medway Council, we will make
available funding to better ascertain and address the local concerns voiced about the quality of
certain areas of the private rental housing sector including; the overcrowding of properties, the
impact of poor housing on health and anti-social behaviour.

In creating a neighbourhood plan to map the area, recording the issues. Most importantly
bringing people together with local stakeholders in a unified voice to express how we want the
current and future of our neighbourhood to look and feel. We also plan to investigate other
ideas including; ethical letting and creating a parish council.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Getting More Active

(More Affordable Activities for Everyone)

Expanding on the success of the Summer Event themed around “Getting Active” and the range of
varied activities we provided over the summer holidays for young children and families. We will
make available funding to address the on-going challenges of a lack of affordable activities for young
people and the wider community.

To respond to this challenge we will have a mix of funding types to support local residents and
organisations to provide a range of safe and cohesive activities for young people and the wider
community across the Arches Local area.

- Increase the range of affordable activities

available for people living in the area;
- Encourage the growth of local initiatives that
are designed and run by residents;
- Bring young people together;
- Bring people of different ages, cultures, faiths,
communities etc. Together.
- Promote use of our outdoor spaces and local
facilities

This will help create a more active society, in which it

is easier and more natural for people living locally to
be active than inactive. The Physical and Mental
wellbeing of those involved and living locally will be
improved. Physical activity can reduce stress and
anxiety. Mastering new skills can increase confidence
and self-esteem.

Getting more active together will help build stronger communities by bringing people together,
often from different backgrounds, to make them feel better about where they live, improve
community links and cohesion and build social capital. We know that people who volunteer in sport,
for example, are more likely to feel they belong in their area and people who take part in sport are
likely to enjoy stronger social links with other people. We know that there are other barriers to
people being active so will ensure all activities are at the right place, price, time and with the right
people.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Whole Community
(Creating opportunities for connections)

There is a lack of cohesion in the community and a clear lack of opportunities for the community to
create connections to better understand each other, discover commonality, and promote cohesion.

Expanding on and continuing the success of our annual engagement events we plan this year to hold
3 key events one in Summer, Spring and Winter to bring the community together at different
locations in our area. With funding made available for up to £3000.00 per event (£9000.00 Total).

- Spring Event: TBC

- Summer Event: Luton Millennium Green
- Winter Event: Town Hall Gardens

Local organisations or individuals can apply for funding that will be allocated to help create
opportunities for the community to get together across the area by providing activities and events
which promote community safety and community cohesion by:

- Increasing the range of activities available for people living in the area and encourage the
growth of local initiatives that are designed and run by residents;
- Supporting residents to make their community a better place by bringing people together of
different ages, cultures, faiths, communities.

Grants of up to £2000.00 will be allocated through this initiative.

Recognising the large number of senior and elderly people living in our area, the importance of the
older generations and those suffering from social isolation, local organisations or individuals can
apply for funding for activities that benefit senior and elderly people across the area by providing
activities and events which promote community safety and community cohesion by:

- Increasing the range of activities available for senior and elderly people living in the area and
encourage the growth of local initiatives that are designed and run by residents;
- Supporting residents to make their community a better place by bringing older people
together of different, cultures, faiths, communities.
- Develop stronger relationships for elderly people with the wider community and local
services

Grants of up to £2000.00 will be allocated through this initiative.

Allocate funding for local organisations or individuals to develop an Arches Local Young Persons’
Forum where members will get the experience of developing their thoughts and arguments and gain
confidence in their own views and opinions.

- Given the opportunity to develop a range of new skills, or build on those they already have,
in areas such as teamwork, presentation skills and communication skills.
- Development of their capacity to frame and better understand the environment in which
they live.
- Build stronger relationships between youth, the community and local services.

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

Changing Behaviour
(Drug & Alcohol Misuse and Dependency Diversion Activities)

The continued recurring themes of issues with drugs

and alcohol has been recorded at all the Big Local
engagement events. It effects visually can be seen daily
in the area through the proliferation of drink related
and drug paraphernalia litter on and just off busy roads
and within our parks. The large number of ‘street
drinkers’ that can also be seen daily roaming the area in
various states of disarray.

To further develop and encourage successful initiatives

that we ran in Year 2 like the Baking School with Turning
Point we will make funding available for Grants of up to
£2000.00 around developing the following desired
outcomes

- More diversionary activities for people suffering

from dependency issues:
- A menu of services activities for young people.
- More engagement by people suffering from
dependency issues:
- Raised engagement and a better understanding
of dependency issues across the Big Local area.
- Stronger relationships between the
participants, the community and local services
- Identify the correlation between environment and the issues of dependency;
- Signpost to other Services and Organisations.

Partnership Development & Delivery

(Delivering the plan and investing in developing local people)

Working with local infrastructure and helping shape it will support the continued development of
the partnership structure also capacity building for people to engage is vital to the continued success
of the Arches Local Plan.
The Arches Local Partnership recognises that there is a need to increase and improve
communication to engage with as many partners and residents as possible and to this end, it will be
delivered by the Arches Local Coordinator who will also help deliver the key elements of the plan
and develop the ongoing strategy of plan delivery. With support from an Engagement Worker whose
main role will base out of ‘The Arches’ community space to increase participation and raising
awareness of Arches Local.

- Developing and formalising structures to support involvement and participation of residents,

local resident-led organisations and other organisations.
- Regular communication across all mediums
- Develop relationships with local organisations regarding plans;
- Events / social engagements to encourage groups and individuals to mix;
- Partnership development activities

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

The Budget

1 Social Investment
Developing a Market Further progress the concept of hosting a market 10,000
The Arches Hub Rent 12,000
Business Rates 2,500
Other Core Costs, Cleaning, Insurance, Equipment, Amenity Bills 5,000
£29,500
2 Open Spaces & The Environment
Park development direct and match funding Improving access to open spaces, encouraging there use 20,000
Environment visual appearance improvement funding Luton Arches cleanliness and general layout 5,000
Development of Recycling Centre Located at Luton Road Shoppers car park 5,000
£30,000
3 Private Rented Sector Housing
Development of Neighbourhood Plan Create a plan, Map the area, Record the issues, Solutions 15,000
Investigate other methods Ethical Letting, Creating a Parish Council 5,000
£20,000
4 Getting More Active
Getting Active Grants of up to £2000.00 Grants 20,000
Match Funding 10,000
Support for individuals 2,000
£32,000
5 Whole Community
Annual events 3 Key events Spring, Summer, Winter (£3000.00 each) 9,000
Community Cohesion Grants of up to £2000.00 Grants 10,000
Support for individuals 1,000
Senior & Elderly people Grants of up to £2000.00 Grants 10,000
Support for individuals 1,000
Development of an Arches Local Young Persons’ Forum Build stronger relationships between youth & the community 5,000

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Arches Local Big Local Year 3 Plan

£36,000
6 Changing Behaviour
Diversionary behaviour grants up to £2000.00 Grants 10,000
Support for individuals 1,000

£11,000
7 Partnership Development & Delivery

Arches Local Co-ordinator contract Salary including RPI increase (SEP RPI increase 2.8% aprox £855) 32,000
Plus 20% on Costs 6,500

Arches Local Engagement Worker contract 20 Hours per week £8.45 8,788
plus 20% on Costs 1,758

£49,046

8 Other Core Costs

Newsletter Periodically x4 6,000
Website Hosting, Maintenance, Editing, and Redesigning 1,500
Training Budget Training for Arches Local Workers & Partnership 8,000
Office Supplies Printing, Stationary, Office Equipment 1,500
£17,000

Totals £224,546

Red Zebra LTO Management Fee (5% of expenditure) £11,227

Total Year 3 £235,773

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