Unfortunately we were not successful in our application to be included in the Smethwick Towns Fund (£25m from Government). We usually try to stay super positive (especially because we don't want to look like we have sour grapes!) but we're really concerned about the process and the outcomes of the shortlisting stage. We think it’s important to share. Scroll (or read!) to the bottom for the survey link.
Local people are being asked to complete the survey (shared on Council social media accounts) and we thought we would share the main tenets of our response, to highlight some of the positives and missed opportunities that we see in the process and what's been funded, from what we understand (some things we've heard about but haven't been made clear in the information provided in the survey link).
Positives
more and better housing is on the cards
better connectivity through cycle routes in the Northern part of the town
commitment to some provision for young people
focus on areas of the Town in great need (North Smethwick)
Health Education programme, which might might be really great for health professionals who have sought sanctuary here from other countries.
Enterprise development: the recognition that small enterprise is important for our local economy, albeit nothing about social enterprise specifically!
Missed opportunities
It sounds like the only (relatively) low cost project to be funded is to extend the existing Adult Education Centre with three additional classrooms. Let's have a think about all the existing unused space around our town that could be used for that purpose instead, saving money and taking classes to where people are, rather than expect people to travel. Plenty of community led spaces are trying to keep their venue hire going after an awful year - the economic benefits utilising existing space rather than building new space would be considerable.
It looks like pretty much the full £25m has gone to major projects with huge budgets. We can't see that any provision was made in the plans for putting aside a (relatively) small amount (perhaps even £2m?) to fund smaller community led initiatives
So much of the previous consultation (and our own research locally) talked about the need for connectivity (public transport etc) between both Smethwick and Bearwood Road high streets. People want to be able to shop and visit at both. They both offer different, therefore complimentary, shops and experiences. Imagine the potential increase of footfall to both if bus connections were better. And imagine the positive health and environmental impacts locally, and into Brum city centre, if it was possible to easily get to the Smethwick Train Stations from Bearwood by bus or by bike.
We were scored low for our application, so we clearly didn’t make our case strongly enough, but the feedback we’ve received has focused on how the number of coworking spaces we’re proposing at Bearwood Community Hub was not enough to have a transformative effect on the local economy. We disagree (naturally!) and we’re hoping that the many other plans we have for contributing to a more inclusive local economy (a Sandwell MBC priority) weren’t completely ignored, but we can’t be sure.
From what we can make out the prospective funding is almost all going towards North Smethwick, with very little to Central or Southern Smethwick (i.e. Smethwick High Street, the area around Bearwood Road, and everything in between). We think it’s right that investment is needed on areas of greatest need but, with such a significant sum available, we believe this could have been allocated differently to recognise disadvantage and opportunity across Smethwick, and to recognise the interconnectedness of Smethwick citizens working across the town - and Borough - to make a difference.
Clearly the biggest investments are likely to be housing developments. We know first hand from the people we help to support, that housing is desperately needed in Smethwick. What we’d really like to know is whether any of that housing will be social housing and how much large housing developers will, ultimately benefit from this. What if the community was supported to develop community-led housing associations, or what if it had been supported to do so over the last year since the funding was announced, to be ready to make applications? That would have been a positive process of meaningful community involvement!
And so, on to the process
The survey asks for our opinions but does not fully inform us. As is so often the case with this type of consultation, there isn't enough information about the specifics to make a meaningful judgement. Of course more housing is good when people are living in awful conditions locally (but we refer back to our previous point about no detail on social housing)! And of course those of us wanting to protect the planet and our children's lungs want a cycle scheme. Why would anyone say ‘no’ to the list as it’s presented? But that’s the point. Without full detail, we are not being given the opportunity to respond in a balanced and informed way. And if we're not being given that, there's no point in consultation.
For us, the process included some really positive, encouraging conversations about what are trying to do, and a pretty much immediate judgement that we should be on the ‘long list’ of projects. After a few weeks of this we were then given little over a week (in the middle of a pandemic with all its additional pressures) to complete the application form. We didn’t complain (you tend not to when you know you’re being given a great opportunity), but when there’s not much capacity in your organisation it’s incredibly difficult to ‘compete’.
Where does this leave us?
Two months ago the Towns Fund wasn’t on our radar, so it’s okay, we’re focusing on what IS possible for us. And it’s been a really useful insight into how to articulate better the business and economic potential of our ambitions, not just the community impact.
But it also leaves us disappointed. That this doesn’t feel community owned or community led when much more of it could be. We really hope we’re wrong! But with the lack of detail it’s pretty easy to assume otherwise.
Please do take a look at the survey and share your honest views, positive, negative, and inbetween!