£600,000 FOR NORMANTON

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People living in 14 streets in Normanton are furious that they could be charged to park outside their homes. Permits would be free for the first year, but households would then have to pay £25 a year to park one car and a further £50 to park each additional car. They would receive 20 free tickets each year for visitors' cars. If more tickets were needed, they would cost £2 for a book of 10. Residents accused the council of trying to issue a "stealth tax" and said they would be penalised for having lots of guests.

Abdul Shahid, of Salisbury Street, one of the roads which could be affected, has a petition of more than 400 names against the proposal. He said, "Normanton is a deprived area and some people will struggle to pay. I have door-knocked all the houses on the roads and found no-one who wanted the changes brought in. We are a close-knit community and the guest system seems to penalise that. There are so many problems in the area which the council promised to sort at the last elections. They've not done so and now they're hitting us with a stealth tax."

Steve Alcock, the council's parking development manager, said the plan was at the consultation stage and would not go ahead if the majority of people did not want it. He explained that it was designed to stop staff from DRI parking in the streets. Mr Alcock said staff from the hospital currently used the free 90-space Grove Street car park in Normanton. Pay-and-display charges could be introduced there, and he said this could mean hospital staff might park in residential streets instead. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jul/07)

Creating a cleaner Normanton and looking at ways of cutting unemployment are just two projects that are set to be launched in the area as part of a £600,000 scheme. Six projects aimed at revitalising Normanton have been drawn up, with decisions on who will run them to be made within the next few weeks. The projects are the latest round of schemes from the £17m Normanton Regeneration Programme (NRP).

Earlier this year Derby City Partnership, which manages the NRP, asked for applications from groups and individuals to run the six schemes. The deadline for the applications to run the schemes, costing just over £460,000, runs out next month. The DCP management team will then decide who the best candidates are. Details of a further five projects are still being finalised and will require nearly £140,000 funding.

Catherine Eaton, external funding manager for DCP, said the next two to three years would see much more funding released for projects in the Normanton area. "There is a lot of money going into Normanton from many different directions, but local people want the opportunity to change the way the money is spent. Improving the environment is a big issue in the area and these projects will be an opportunity for local people to make a difference and get involved."

The money for the £17m NRP projects is being drawn from two main sources.
In June 2001 the area received £6.7m from the European Union's Urban II Programme. Soon after, £6.8m was granted through the Government's Single Regeneration Budget (SRB6) programme. The remainder of programme funding will come from sponsorship and other grants. So far 62 projects have received NRP funding, with £3.5m coming from SRB6 and £2m from Urban II.

Derby Gold, a three-year training programme for community groups, received £500,000 in the first round of funding last October. Director Chris Martin stressed the importance of local residents getting involved. "It's a very genuine community full of people who care about where they live." Councillor Ashok Kalia, who represents Normanton on Derby City Council, said, "It's a chance for local people to influence how the money is spent."

The six latest projects to be set up by the programme are:

Evergreen Normanton:
Aims to create a cleaner and more natural environment in the area.

Management of the Normanton Project Centre:
Based in Normanton Road, a management team will run the centre and support community projects until December, 2006.

Employment Trends Survey:
A £13,500 survey carried out between July and September aims to assess employment needs and help get people back into work.

Livelihood Project:
Initially running for 12 months at a cost of £80,000 from August, this aims to provide advice and information for training and careers.

Women's Needs Survey:
Beginning in June for three months and with £12,000 funding, this hopes to find out what the employment aspirations of local women are and to identify barriers which prevent them from achieving these goals.

Public Transport Survey:
A £15,000 five-month survey assessing the accessibility of public transport in the area.

Secret surveillance cameras will be used in a bid to stop fly-tipping in Normanton as part of an £85,000 clean-up operation. The cameras will be used to target offenders who dump sofas, fridges, builders' rubble and bin bags full of rubbish on green areas near the site of the old Baseball Ground.

They will be monitored by the Environment Agency and anyone caught could face a fine of up to £20,000. Spy cameras are just one of the tools being used as part of the joint scheme to improve the Normanton environment for residents before October 2005. Cleaner and Greener Normanton is an £85,225 project involving a partnership between the national ENCAMS group, formerly Keep Britain Tidy, and Derby City Council.

Funding has come from the landfill tax credit scheme, supplied by the Onyx Environmental Trust. Since April 2004, businesses disposing of rubbish have been required to pay £15 per tonne in tax towards the scheme. The cash goes to a disposal trust which then distributes funds for community environmental projects.

A sister project called Evergreen Normanton, which is managed by Derby's Community Enterprise and Training Association and is supported by Derby City Partnership, is also being run. Both schemes will work to break down communication barriers, urge people to dispose of litter properly and encourage public involvement in the Normanton environment.

Derby City Partnership's Small Change fund has handed out more than £400,000, with most going into the Normanton regeneration area and nearly £180,000 going towards creche facilities in six locations. Councillor Paul Bayliss, chairman of the partnership's external funding management group, said a survey had highlighted the need for extra creches in Normanton.

The fund normally offers grants of up to £3,000, but in the latest round of funding, groups in the Normanton Regeneration Area were able to apply for up to £10,000 towards projects involving young people. Three groups, the Open Doors Forum, the Ikhlas Foundation and the Serbian Orthodox Community Group, were awarded the full £10,000. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

An £11m regeneration plan has been drawn up to improve the Rose Hill area of Normanton. Residents and businesses in the area are invited to comment on draft plans for the area's revival. The money, called market renewal funding, was given to stop the area degenerating, putting people off wanting to buy houses or businesses there. In the past year, the council has started putting new roofs on houses and has undertaken other work to make them more appealing. Now it is preparing to kick-start the second part of the scheme, looking at other ways of improving the area. Ideas include better transport links with the city centre and creating more green spaces and community facilities. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jun/07)

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