COMMUNITIES across South Lakeland are in line to share a £100,000 windfall in a groundbreaking scheme devised to let the people take control of the public purse.
South Lakeland District Council's Cabinet is recommending the cash be awarded directly to communities to decide how it is spent on improving their particular neighbourhood.
The way it will work, is that the district's 51 councillors will each be g
iven £2,000 to take back to the particular ward they represent on SLDC. There are 45 wards in South Lakeland.
They will then work directly with their community to spend on local projects such as new bus shelters, playground equipment, extra lighting, and a shelter for young people or even public seating.
It is hoped that with match funding - each community could end up with having around £4,000 to spend on their particular community project - which could lead to over £200,000 of improvements to towns and villages across South Lakeland.
For the first time ever, the money is being diverted and devolved from council control and channeled down to communities directly from the authority's annual Capital Projects Fund. This is a ring-fenced pot of finance that the council can only use to spend on what are effectively long-term "bricks and mortar projects" for the whole district.
Councillor Andy Shine, portfolio holder for Policy, Performance and Resources, said, "This is about empowering communities and giving them a chance to bring their own projects to life. It will help improve their area and means they have a direct say on where the money is spent. Some very worthy small schemes, which would mean a lot to people, don't make it through the complex process of council funding. This is about addressing that and recognising that these projects are important to people."
The scheme still has to be ratified by Full Council.
If agreed, it will be one of the first major projects for the new Local Area Partnerships (LAPs), which have been set up across South Lakeland. There are eight new LAPs covering different sections of the district and they have been devised to give a real hands-on role to local communities and take decision-making closer to the community.
As the partnerships develop, they are likely to take control of local issues and how money is spent in their specific area such as litter, dog fouling, graffiti, grass cutting and public bins, in addition to getting their own budgets.
