What is the North West Liveability Foundation?

The North West of England is driving up standards to become the cleanest, safest and greenest region in England in five years. The North West Liveability Foundation is a year-long pilot project involving ten partners and if it’s successful, it will be rolled out across the whole of the region. Riverside Housing Group (withCarlisle Housing Association), Preston, South Ribble, Wigan, Stockport,

Oldham and Vale Royal local authorities plus Lancashire Economic Partnership, North West Development Agency (NWDA) and ENCAMS have all joined forces for the pilot. The Foundation was developed after repeatedly poor ratings for the North West in ENCAMS Local Environmental Survey of England which looks at how much litter and grime is on our streets as well as other issues.

Also a study into ‘How the North West can become the Cleanest, Safest and Greenest in England’ identified a need for a regional Liveability Foundation which would bring together all activities to make the region cleaner, safer and greener with a structured programme of activity to drive up standards within the region.

Before a Foundation is considered for roll out across the whole of the North West, regional partners involved with the study agreed that the approach should be piloted.

As part of the Foundation pilot there will be regional campaigns on different topics aimed at the public as well as developing and testing an enforcement strategy that involves all of the partners working together, sharing ideas and resources. Government targets on local environmental quality will be considered throughout the initiative.

In each pilot area the project will: find out the training needs of each partner local authority and housing association and test tailored training courses with them; undertake local environmental quality surveys; find out what the local community thinks of their area and provide support from expert organisations.

Surveys have taken place in the seven pilot areas as the partnership began, to assess how clean, safe and green they are. The same survey will be repeated after the project has ended to assess the impact and help suggest changes before the Foundation is rolled out to the whole of the North West region.

The pilot project has been made possible with funding from the NWDA and the Lancashire Economic Partnership as well as guidance and expertise from ENCAMS and hard work from the partner local authorities and housing group.

As well as those involved in the pilot and its funding the following organisations are also supporting the project: Government Office for North West, North West Regional Assembly, RENEW, Environment Agency, Groundwork and Crime Concern.