Monday, 30th June 2008, Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes

Constructing longer term stewardship and governance – through new mechanisms like community councils, neighbourhood charters, development trusts and different ways of generating income streams for community activity

The final seminar in our series explored issues of maintaining good quality management, or stewardship, of the public realm into the long term. There are a range of existing mechanisms through which this can be done and we heard from three different speakers who were involved in these types of initiatives for existing towns and cities.

Phil Bowsher explained how and why his organisation, the Milton Keynes Parks Trust, was originally set up and the kind of work it now undertakes. He explained how the organisation had invested its assets and was now able to undertake more extensive work with the community as a result.

We then heard from Peter McGurn who discussed his experiences with the Goodwin Trust in Hull. The Trust began life as a group of volunteers drawn for various residents’ associations in the area, who were keen to do something to help their community. The organisation now employs 354 staff and provides an extensive range of services. Peter argued their financial independence and the fact that only local residents can sit on the board were the key to their success.

Our last speakers of the day, Chris Marsh from Salford URC, and Martin Halton, SALT, talked about their intensive work improving service delivery in Salford. Chris and his team have developed the ‘Spotlight’ approach to intensive investigation of social issues in deprived neighbourhoods, which is then followed by a more holistic response from service providers. An important part of this approach is using local third sector organisations to undertake research or help formulate solutions where they are best placed to do so.

The seminar was attended by a diverse group of practitioners from English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation, local authorities and third sector organisations.

You can download the framing paper which was sent to the members of the audience before the event here. You can also view the presentations from the day below:

• The Young Foundation’s presentation
• Phil Bowsher's presentation
• Peter McGurn's presentation
• Chris Marsh and Matin Halton's presentation