Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative (HCMTI)

A business led project which seeks to encourage and support the cooperation of the communities in Aldeburgh, Leiston and Saxmundham in order to enable socio-economic renewal within the IP15, 16 & 17 postcodes. With initial funding provided by Magnox South and Suffolk Coastal District Council the first year’s activity has proved effective to such an extent that additional funding has been made available to extend the geographic coverage of the project. It is essentially a ‘bottom up’ operation based on the premise that there must be sufficient expertise, ability & resource within the District to enable local business issues to be identified and local solutions developed.

 

The term ‘business issues’ is used deliberately as it relates equally to opportunities as it does to problems and in the next few years a number of significant business opportunities particularly related to energy and tourism are likely to present themselves. At the same time problems relating to coastal management, transport and skills will need to be overcome. Sustainability is key and dependent on two factors, the ability to deliver the identified local solutions and the ability to generate income.

 

Local delivery is greener and minimises the dependency on outside support, funding and agendas. Income generation reduces dependency on grants and the inevitable strings attached, which often reduce effectiveness. It is anticipated that the establishment of an appropriate form of Community Enterprise will become necessary. Community enterprises have similar principles to social enterprises but whereas social enterprises tend to focus on the needs of a particular sector of society, community enterprises seek to benefit a particular geographic area or community.

 

They are often run by people from within the community they serve. They operate not just as a not-for-profit deliverer of local services, investing any surplus back into their communities, but as a focal point for local people to identify the unmet needs of their communities and to respond to those needs with the help of their own income-generating activities.

 

Community Enterprises provide local employment and training opportunities, help create and retain community wealth and can make a real difference to local people. For information, the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 encourages Councils to work with communities to identify what is needed to improve local economic, social or environmental well being and what changes need to be taken by central government at a national level to enable this.

 

It provides a vehicle for Local Authorities to put forward suggested local proposals for change. Suffolk Coastal District Council is participating. Finally, The Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative does not intend to replicate or replace the work of the local business associations but to concentrate on those issues which are common and where co operation and size can contribute significantly to local outcomes. Membership is by invitation and open to formally constituted business associations and business related special interest groups. The speed at which this Initiative can become effective will be largely dependant on the speed at which like minded groups come together. April 2010