Your Local Budget - first successes in neighbourhood voting

Three local projects have emerged top of the people's vote in the first month of the Royal Borough's new online Local Budget neighbourhood participatory budgeting (PB) scheme.

Attracting the most votes in July were:
• Outdoor play equipment for the child victims of domestic abuse who are forced to live in local safe houses - 183 votes (25.1% of the votes cast)
• Windsor Parish Church of St John the Baptist tower repairs and restoration - 140 votes (19.2%)
• Art on the Street - the Maidenhead art market offering the local arts community an affordable way of exhibiting and selling their work - 116 votes (15.9%).

Each of the three bids was for £2,000 and these were agreed by the meeting of the Cabinet Participatory Budget Sub-Committee on Thursday 11 August.

Cllr David Burbage, Council Leader and Sub Committee Chairman, said: "This is a great Big Society opportunity for local people to have a direct say in how public money is spent on projects and schemes that benefit their communities. Given this was the first of the monthly votes we were delighted by the fact that more than 700 people went online to support the projects put forward to bid for funding.

"The top three vote catchers were felt by the sub committee to be very deserving of a PB financial boost and now we are looking forward to the second month of voting to see which of the 18 projects lined up for the August vote will emerge the people's favourites."

Sharon Ballantyne, Children's Healthy Living Project Co-ordinator for Berkshire East & South Bucks Women's Aid, said: "We are absolutely delighted with this news and would like to thank the public for supporting this project. We can't wait to spend this money on new play equipment for the gardens in our safe houses. The children we support have been through difficult and traumatic experiences and this new equipment will help make their time with us more pleasurable. Thank you for helping us to make a huge difference to our vulnerable children and young people."

John Halsey, of Windsor Parish Church, said it was 'fantastic news'. He added: "The building is used by local community groups as well as the regular congregation. Thank you, it is great to have the public support."

Marie Leonard, Harriet Brittaine, Steph Gay and Steph James, directors of Art on the Street, said they were 'absolutely delighted to be awarded this grant' and continued: "It will make sure that we can continue to help local artists and bring the streets of Maidenhead alive through our markets."

Voting for the August neighbourhood projects is now open at www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/consultation_participatory_budgeting_voting.htm

The 22 projects in the running for residents' votes are as follows:

New for August
• Broom Farm community playing fields and football pitch project
• Additional parking Cookham Dean Primary School
• WAMSAD - more accessible facilities for people who are deaf and hard of hearing
• The Tell Tale lock project - community arts project (part of 2012 Olympiad)
• The East West Trust - police community youth pastor, Windsor (employability course for young people not in education, employment or training
• Development of community facilities - St Peter's Church, Maidenhead
• Pinkneys Green Scout HQ repairs
• Windsor Horse Rangers - buying second hand classroom building
• Community seating, Sunninghill and Ascot Parish Council
• Therapy swim sessions - Manor Green School.

Carried Forward
• Fix Youth Club, St Peter's Church, maidenhead
• Millennium Walk Hurley to maidenhead - to print a walk map
• COACH Community Mentoring Project
• St Mary's School swimming pool repairs
• White Waltham School outdoor classroom
• Clewer Scouts and Guides HQ improvements
• Maidenhead Sailing Club - sailing for people with special needs
• Maidenhead Carnival
• Grove Park Trim Trail, White Waltham
• Sensory Garden, Lawns Children's Centre
• Family Friends volunteer training
• St Vincent de Paul Society - helping the community.

Full details at www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/consultation_participatory_budgeting_voting.htm. The closing date for this month's voting is Thursday 1 September 2011.

The neighbourhood budget scheme enables parish councils, community groups, charities and individual residents with good ideas to bid for up to £2,000 of Royal Borough funding to boost local action in streets and communities - and then local people vote online for their favourites.

A total of £50,000 of capital funding has been made available:
• £40,000 for bids of up to £2,000 (£6,000 has now been awarded as a result of the July vote)
• £10,000 to provide additional funding to the projects where the organisers can demonstrate that they have worked hard to attract match funding or help.

The neighbourhood online voting scheme - a borough first - is part of this year's £300,000 participatory budgeting (PB) programme which has involved thousands of residents in voting for the schemes they want to see go ahead across the borough and in their local geographic areas. Also coming up are individual budgets for councillors to use for schemes in their wards.

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