REGENERATING FORMER MINING COMMUNITIES IN THE LEICESTERSHIRE AND SOUTH DERBYSHIRE COALFIELDS AREA

 

CASE STUDY REPORT

 

Purpose of Report

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This Case Study Report summarises the actions taken by Steve Dibnah, founder of Pentuple Consulting, during his role as Manager of the Regeneration Division of North West Leicestershire District Council to support the regeneration of the former Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfields area between 1994 and 2004. 

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Introduction

 

As Manager of the Regeneration Division at North West Leicestershire District Council, Steve Dibnah was responsible for leading a department of multi-disciplinary regeneration professionals and developing and implementing a 10 year integrated economic, community, physical and environmental regeneration strategy and programme in North West Leicestershire and supprting recipriocal initiatives in South Derbyshire. His role was to lead the Council's regeneration actions to help reverse the economic, environmental and social decline brought about by the collapse of the coal mining industry in the Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfields Area in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. This collapse left the former mining communities in North West Leicestershire and in neighbouring South Derbyshire blighted by physical dereliction, economic decline, unemployment, poor housing, deprivation and social exclusion.

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Integrated and Coordinated Approach to Regeneration

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Steve adopted a holistic approach to regeneration in order to help revitalise the local economy and improve the lives of those living and working in the former mining communities. This involved developing and implementing an integrated and coordinated programme of multi-agency, cross border programmes designed to improve the economic, physical, environmental and social fabric of the Coalfields area in North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire. This approach focused on maximising local strengths, including the area’s geographical location and strategic communications network, a skilled local workforce and a decision by the Government to create a new National Forest - at the heart of which was the former Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfields area. The decision to create a new National Forest provided an excellent opportunity to develop a future vision for the former coalfield area. This vision sought to capitalise on the ideals behind the rationale for creating the new National Forest, namely to create a whole new landscape in which to live and work. This provided a model for the economic, physical and social regeneration of many other areas suffering the legacy of widespread industrial dereliction and social and economic deprivation.

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Community-Based Regeneration

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Key to the successful regeneration of the area was gaining the support and participation of local communities and community organisations to develop a vision of the future for their area and deliver a programme of economic, physical and community-based initiatives to bring about meaningful change and a more prosperous future. A number of community-led regeneration forums, development trusts and social enterprises were established to help deliver the regeneration strategy.

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Strategic Approach to Planning for Regeneration Action

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Equally important was the need to secure significant public sector funding to bring about transformational change that could then enable the area to leverage private sector investment to complete the regeneration process. Initially, there were no significant external public funding opportunities available. In light of this, a decision was taken to focus on developing a robust evidence base and preparing strategies and action plans, in consultation with local communities, setting out programmes of regeneration activity to tackle the specific economic, physical and social problems facing the area. This ensured the area was suitably prepared when a range of UK (Single Regeneration Budget) and European (RECHAR II) funding programmes were introduced from the mid 1990’s onwards. As a result, the area was able to secure a total of over £25 million public funding and leveraged over £55 million in private sector investment to deliver a sustained and comprehensive programmes of economic, physical, environmental and community regeneration activity for the former Coalfield area over a 10 year period.

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Programme of Regeneration Action

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The 10 year integrated economic, community, physical and environmental regeneration programme involved the implementation of the following initiatives:

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• Physical and environmental regeneration programme: focussed on land renewal to provide the means by which to stimulate future economic growth and improve the quality of life for local communities. This involved the reclamation of derelict land and environmental improvement programmes to bring land back into productive use, including:

 

• Releasing new employment land and creating new business parks attract business investment and jobs.

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• Constructing industrial and commercial workspace to support local business start-ups, provide expansion space for growing local businesses and attracting inward investment.

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• Providing land for the development of new tourist attractions and woodland planting sites to kick-start the formation of the National Forest.

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• Undertaking physical renewal initiatives, including village and town centre retail and environmental improvement schemes; housing renewal schemes and the redevelopment of derelict buildings.

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• Economic regeneration programme: focussed on unlocking economic growth and releasing latent economic opportunity by using public funds to implement measures that help address barriers to growth, tackle market failures, maximising the development potential of an area and build on an area’s inherent strengths, local advantages and opportunities, for example:

 

• Targeted investment programmes in public infrastructure and the provision of public goods and services to support the creation of new enterprises, the retention of local firms, the improvement and expansion of existing businesses and attraction of inward investment.

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• Targeted assistance to industries, businesses, and workers to help reduce costs and risks for businesses, encourage business investment and productivity and help create new employment opportunities and a better trained workforce to meet the needs of businesses.

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• Facilitating pre-application discussions between businesses, developers and planning authorities.

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• Community regeneration programme: focussed on improving the economic and social well-being of the most deprived neighbourhoods, including:

 

• Supporting local community-based regeneration partnerships and forums and facilitating the development of community-led local area-based regeneration strategies and action plans.

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• Implementing programmes to tackle deprivation, worklessness, social exclusion, workforce development and issues of health, crime and drugs.

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• Supporting the establish community enterprises, co-operatives, development trusts, credit unions and community-led one stop shops.

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Programme Achievements

 

The end result was the successful delivery of North West Leicestershire District Council’s long term programme of regeneration activity, which helped reduce unemployment in the area from 18% (30% in Measham and other deprived Wards) to under 1.5%; created a diversified local economy that outperformed the rest of Leicestershire (in terms dynamism, job creation, labour force, business growth); attracted significant inward investment; supported enterprise and business growth; delivered ‘award-winning’ land reclamation and area regeneration programmes that removed all major physical blight associated with the deep coal mining industry, brought significant tracts of derelict land back into productive use and gave new life to former mining communities.

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Specific programme highlights, include:

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• The regeneration of former mining communities within the Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfields Priority Area, including Measham, Moira, Ibstock, Donisthorpe, Oakthorpe, Albert Village, Whitwick and Coalville, involving a comprehensive and coordinated programme of physical, environmental, community and economic regeneration initiatives:

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• Village and town centre shop front, environmental and transport infrastructure improvement schemes;

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• Housing renewal schemes

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• Redevelopment of derelict buildings to provide new industrial, commercial, training, craft, retail, leisure and community workspace

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• Skills training and workforce development programmes

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• Capacity building and support for:

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• Ashby Woulds Regeneration Forum (which won the RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup in 2001 for its partnership approach to regeneration)

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• Measham Development Trust

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• Ibstock Community Enterprise Ltd

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• Moira Replan Training Centre

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• Moneytree Credit Union

 

• The reclamation of the former Bath Yard Colliery site and transport depot in Moira, Leicestershire, followed by the construction of the Heart of the National Forest Visitor Centre (now Conkers Waterside Centre), craft workshops, speculative office development (including the headquarters of the National Forest Company), training centre for woodland-related skills, amphitheatre and activity trail, maze, woodlands, ponds & lakes and tree top walk.

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• The construction of Whitwick Business Centre, a 20,000 sq.ft. managed workspace of office/light industrial units on the former Whitwick Colliery site in Coalville.

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• The reclamation of the former Rawdon Colliery site in Moira, Leicestershire to provide the development site for the construction of the award-winning ‘Conkers’  Discovery Centre at the heart of the National Forest.

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• The development of the Rawdon Business Park on part of the reclaimed Rawdon Colliery site, including the construction of Marquis Court – a 25,000sqft development of light industrial units and additional speculative private sector workspace development.

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• The creation of Maybury Wood on part of the reclaimed Rawdon Colliery site to form part of the National Forest.

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• The reclamation of the former Donisthorpe Colliery site to create a new country park within the National Forest and the construction of the Donisthorpe Community Centre within the village.

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• The reclamation of the former Oakthorpe Colliery site and the creation of a picnic site and natural woodland as party of the National Forest.

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• The reclamation of the former Ellistown Colliery site and the development of new employment land and woodland planting schemes for the National Forest.

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