City neighbourhoods get cash boost for community schemes

Hundreds of thousands of pounds are being given to city neighbourhoods for community schemes and improvements.

Plymouth City Council is announcing three large grants totalling £359,500 for the city. The first £199,500 is an annual grant allocation that ward councillors can spend on small schemes that make a big impact on their local communities.

Each of the 57 councillors is given £3,500 to help projects in their wards. They can either allocate individually or pool with other councillors and they can use the money to supplement funding for agreed small schemes.

Councillors can use the grants for a wide range of projects and in the last twelve months these have included support for children’s and community centres, youth clubs, local activity days and allotments.

Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet member for Finance, said: “These grants may be relatively small sums of money but they can make a big difference to local communities. We increased the allocation for each councillor last year because of the high demand for local projects and we have seen what a positive impact they can have.”

The second grant is £80,000 for small road related improvement schemes in neighbourhoods. The Council is allocating £4,000 to each ward in the city and will give ward councillors a list of schemes that have been requested by the general public, the police, community groups and organisations. The Council currently receives approximately 2,500 such requests each year ranging from double yellow lines to road signs and crossings.

Ward councillors can then choose from the list which projects they think will be of most benefit to the community and recommend they are carried out.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet member for Transport said: “The extra grants we’re announcing today are for small road and transport related schemes in neighbourhoods. They are another opportunity for communities to have a say in how money is spent in their area so improvements are made where they are most needed.”

A further £80,000 will also be available to wards for schemes that help school children to make safer and more sustainable journeys to school. The grants will be allocated based on pupil numbers and catchment area.

To contact a local councillor call 01752 668000 or go to www.plymouth.gov.uk/democracyandgovernance