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FAQ's |  |
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1. What is the need for Waterlinks?
2. Where is Waterlinks? 3. Why a BIG Lottery bid? 4. What are we trying to achieve through Waterlinks? 5. What are the benefits? 6. How has the community been actively involved in the development of Waterlinks? 7. Who are the partners involved in the bid and what are their roles? 8. How much will all this cost and where’s the money coming from? 9. What are the environmental/ecological impacts? 10. What is the BIG Lottery Living Landmarks? 11. What’s the overall timetable and who ultimately decides if we can go ahead? 12. How do I vote for Waterlinks? 13. What will we do if we don't win? 14. Is the Parrett Sluice project part of Waterlinks? 15. If successful will all the projects go ahead exactly as planned? 16. What have you spent the £500k development grant on? 1. What is the need for Waterlinks? There is a very real need for Waterlinks in Somerset - socially, economically and environmentally - and especially now in light of climate change and the threats that this poses for our coastal, low-lying county. Somerset's problems, are based around: - environment & geography: a low-lying wetland landscape, its management & adaptation for 2000 years by man, its role as habitat for flora & fauna, but its formerly sustainable arteries - rivers & canals - now less lifeblood, more decay; - economy: towns & isolated rural communities with pockets of deprivation, over- reliant on declining key employers & sectors; and facing an urgent need to invest substantially to avoid further decline; and - climate change: the threat to these low-lying areas requiring better management of water & people's carbon footprints Waterlinks aims to address all these needs Back to Top 2. Where is Waterlinks? Waterlinks is in Somerset, a beautiful and vibrant West country county. The Waterlinks map covers a wide area of Somerset from Wellington in the west to Glastonbury in the east, Bridgwater in the north to Martock in the south. The Waterlinks map shows ‘hubs’ of activity; these hubs form centres where numerous Waterlinks projects are clustered. The hubs are linked together by 'spokes', lengths of new navigable waterway, cycleway, footpath and bridleways. Back to Top 3. Why a BIG Lottery Bid? £50 million would be a significant boost to the Somerset's economy, wildlife, heritage and image if it was successful, and it will help the county positively tackle climate change which poses a serious threat to our local communities. The project would help pull together aspirations already being examined by Sedgemoor, Taunton Deane, South Somerset and Mendip under a single identifiable waterways theme which would be of regional significance. Back to Top 4. What are we trying to achieve through Waterlinks? The programme has been developed to unlock the unique water landscape of Somerset for the benefit of local people and their economy, and for the enjoyment of visitors, whilst protecting Somerset’s own special environment and heritage. More specific objectives are:
5. What are the benefits? Local people will benefit from the project in many ways:
6. How has the community been actively involved in the development of Waterlinks? Waterlinks draws together themes that have preoccupied people in Somerset for centuries. In medieval times flood-banks were built and drainage improved by straightening rivers – waterways were important transport routes as well as sources of power for mills. The potential development of Somerset's waterways has been the subject of an ongoing discussion between local authorities and community groups over the last 100 years. Many activities take place around the waterways involving all sections of the community. An annual river festival in May always attracts thousands of people. Meetings have been held, attended by the public and community groups, agencies, local authorities, and educational establishments. The development and planning of the Waterlinks project has been based on ideas and opinions expressed by key partners and community groups. Back to Top 7. Who are the partners involved in the bid and what are their roles? There are Delivery partners who are responsible for developing the Waterlinks projects up to submission and the vote – they are:
Back to Top 8. How much will all this cost and where's the money coming from? The Waterlinks project will cost £81m, of which £50m will come from the BIG Lottery, assuming we win. The remaining £30m will come from the local authorities involved, South West Regional Development Agency, developers and other funders. Back to Top 9. What are the environmental/ecological impacts? Waterlinks will have many environmental benefits, particularly in the longer term, but care will need to be taken through environmental assessment at each stage and measures taken to ensure that any damage is minimised with positive measures taken to enhance the environment wherever possible and practical. Back to Top 10.What is the BIG Lottery 'Living Landmarks'? Living Landmarks is a new UK wide programme, launched by the BIG Lottery Fund, which will see communities working together to improve their quality of life and their environment through funding major capital projects. There are two parts to Living Landmarks: 1) an award of a small number of grants of between £10 million and £25 million, and 2) an award of a single grant of between £25 million and £50 million. The second stream, for which the Waterlinks consortium have applied, is being run in partnership with the People's Millions programme and ITV, where a public televised vote will decide who wins the grant. The Big Lottery is keen to fund a wide range of projects, from woodlands to waterways, bridges to cycle ways, buildings, amenities, open public spaces, and projects that enhance the natural environment. Communities must be at the heart of the project and it should make communities better places to live, work and play. The Big Lottery Fund wants its funding to:
11. What's the overall timetable and who will ulitimately decide if this goes ahead? We submitted our Stage 2 bid on May 31st 2007. In September the Living Landmarks Lottery Committee will decide on which of the 6 bids will go forward to the televised vote which will take place on television between Christmas 2007 and the New Year. Back to Top 12. How do I vote for Waterlinks when the time comes? If Waterlinks is selected to be televised on ITV, you will be able to find out how to vote for us via the television programme and on the television company’s website. It is likely you will be able to vote by a variety of means i.e. telephone, text message, internet. When the time comes we will publicise how you can support Waterlinks via the local and regional press and on the Waterlinks website www.waterlinks.info and the websites of partners organisations and support organisations and groups. But in the meantime, give us your contact details and we will send you information as soon as we receive it. Back to Top 13. What do we do if we don’t win? We are making every effort to win the BIG Lottery Living Landmarks grant, and we urge you to support Waterlinks with your vote, if we get through to the televised vote. If we don’t win the vote however, we will search for other funding for Waterlinks; a search that we believe will be made all the more easy because of all we have learnt through the BIG Lottery Living Landmarks application process, and because the profile of Waterlinks will have been raised though the televised programme sparking widespread interest in, and enthusiasm for, Somerset. We are also aware that no other grants exist that offer the scale of funding in one go that the BIG Lottery Living Landmarks makes available. We are committed to achieving Waterlinks as a whole, but if we don’t secure the large Living Landmarks grant it is likely that we will need to phase the development of Waterlinks over a much longer timeframe. Back to Top 14. Is the Parrett Sluice project part of Waterlinks? No, the Parrett Sluice is being developed separately by the Parrett Sluice Partnership, led by Sedgemoor District Council. Back to Top 15. If successful will all the projects go ahead exactly as planned? Not necessarily, all the projects are subject to gaining the appropriate planning permissions and consents and will go through all relevant due process. This may mean that the projects as currently envisaged (shape,size, location etc) may change between now and implementation. Back to Top 16. What have you spent the £500k development grant on? When we first submitted our bid, the projects we submitted were only ideas. What we had to do, and what the BIG Lottery supplied the Development Grant for, was to develop these ideas into much firmer plans ready to be submitted for our Stage 2 application on May 31st 2007. This meant we had to commission feasibility work to assess how we could deliver these projects, what would work (technically and financially etc.) and what were the best options. From there we had to develop designs and business plans for the projects future delivery. Back to Top |
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