Emsworth Market Town Initiative

Richard Jannaway

Just when you thought you had got to grips with ‘Livability Grant’ organised by the new ‘Community Board’ (See this issue’s front page article on the proposed skateboard park.) Another Government initiative comes knocking on our door offering to give us central government grants to improve life in Emsworth.
Market Town Initiatives are a product of the 2001 government ‘Rural White Paper’ which allocated funds to the Countryside Agency to address growing concern for the future of market towns. During the last three years many towns have started projects and now it’s Emsworth’s turn. Many people in Emsworth like to call it a village and we have many community characteristics of a village. In other ways, the ‘town centre’ is exactly that and in the past it has been a market town and even had a town council, together with Warblington. The emphasis of the initiative is on the ‘town’ in its environment, which means those surrounding communities which look to Emsworth as their centre. People from places like Southbourne, Westbourne, and to a lesser extent Rowlands Castle benefit from the independent shops and other facilities in Emsworth and in turn help to sustain them.
At a meeting in the Community Centre on Thursday 2 December, the proposal for the Emsworth Market Town Initiative was presented by officers of Havant Borough Council to representatives of local voluntary organisations. The ideas were accepted with enthusiasm by those present who are returning to their organisations to advocate the setting up of a steering group of local organisations and residents. This steering group will create small teams to look at specific aspects; an example of true community planning. The officers agreed to recommend this to the elected councillors who have indicated they will support the scheme.
In partnership with the Countryside Agency and SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) Havant Borough Council are assisting the setting up of this project, which will provide resources for Emsworth. Funds can become available for projects, which have a direct effect on job creation/sustaining, skills training, business support, use of brownfield land, and new/improved services. The first stage of this initiative is to carry out a ‘health check’ to help the town identify its strengths and weaknesses and plan to take advantage of new opportunities and to combat anything which might damage Emsworth's vitality. It will be a survey of many areas of the community including such themes as: transport, youth, housing, business, entertainment, open spaces, tourism, etc. Applications for funding can then be based on hard facts. In Emsworth we are ahead of the game. The Emsworth Design Statement team has already gathered a lot of information, and in the ERA we have begun studying the traffic patterns in our survey for the interbridges site.
From the health-check, an action plan can be created which will help identify needs, which require external funding and which the community can help implement. Potentially there is up to £40,000 of government funding available for projects in Emsworth. This funding is 50% match funding which means that for every £1000 we receive from the scheme £1000 will have to come from other sources, which can be grants from other organisations or raised by businesses and individuals in other ways.
Your involvement will be much appreciated and can help shape the future of Emsworth. Watch out for announcements of the next public meeting, come along and get involved. As with all ongoing events this will be posted on the ERA website and on our notice board outside the Co-op.