The Environment Directorate of the County Council is committed to working with the communities of Lancashire to take advantage of opportunities to regenerate derelict land.

Lancashire Small Sites Reclamation Programme (LSSRP) is an ambitious programme of land reclamation and improvement utilising a devolved fund provided by the Northwest Regional Development Agency. This partnership provides the County Council with the ability to negotiate improvement projects with a variety of partners. From April 2006 LSSRP will develop as a sub programme within the REMADE initiative.

The purpose of LSSRP is to provide financial assistance and professional advice to community groups in Lancashire who want to carry out innovative projects that enhance the environment and bring real benefits to their neighbourhood. Support is available for groups seeking to clear previously developed land, which is derelict, underused or neglected. We would like to hear from groups who are committed to improving their local environment, planning projects such as community gardens, allotment regeneration, improvements to public open spaces, playground regeneration and wildlife habitat enhancement projects.

Projects must demonstrate a high degree of community benefit or display links to wider agendas such as health, education, arts, waste management, or countryside access. The best schemes will be projects based on genuinely derelict and previously developed land and we expect to make grants of up to £15,000, typically funding around 40% of the total project costs.

The Small Sites programme has two clear objectives:

• bring about improvements to the many small sites around Lancashire that contribute to poor environmental quality in local neighbourhoods;
• directly involve local people and community organisations in the development, planning and implementation process to realise these improvements.

It is important that potential projects demonstrate this and that the practical outcome of individual schemes contributes towards one of the following:

• Wildlife and habitat conservation.
• Public open space.
• Informal public recreation amenity.
• Links to wider environmental initiatives
• Land to be used for educational or skills building purposes.
• Visual amenity.

There are no hard or fast rules about what constitutes a small site (ie, - size, type of land or cost of project). The success of this initiative has and continues to depend largely upon groups, individuals and organisations within Lancashire taking advantage of the funding available. We welcome applications from across the county.

We have a Team who can provide professional support for groups and to help with planning, design and implementation of projects.

Team Priorities

The highest priority for the Projects Team is to focus on those groups that have already been offered support for their projects, providing any additional support and advice to ensure that schemes move from the early development phases into implementation.

A second priority for the Projects Team will be to ensure that support is given to those organisations who may not be aware of the scheme, or traditionally do not take advantage of its resources.

Additional assistance will be offered to these organisations to help them take advantage of the scheme and to ensure that the Small Sites programme is accessible to all community organisations within Lancashire.

We will continue to support existing partnerships, establish new partnerships and to support our partners activities, enabling them to identify and attract additional funding resources.

The Lancashire Small Sites Reclamation Programme is managed by Lancashire County Council and supported by the Northwest Development Agency.