Case studies

BarNET ZERO is a sustainability project launched by Barnet council with a goal to be a net zero borough by 2042.

In Barnsley the hospital trust and council have worked together to create a diagnostic unit in the new retail and leisure centre, which has been developed as part of a £200 million regeneration of the town centre.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Twin Valley Homes have turned a wilting nursery business into a community work scheme. The Four Seasons garden project aims to get people from deprived areas into work, partly as a way to improve their health. Part of Lifestyles for Work, the project is also looking at ways to increase the environmental sustainability of both the site and its partner organisations.

The Bradford City Centre Growth Scheme was created to support the economic growth and resilience of the City Centre. It has assisted 86 vacant units in being brought back into commercial use and encouraged 230 businesses to either open or expand operations.

Breckland Council has launched a year long project, Future Breckland: Thriving People and Places. This project is a significant undertaking which is designed to help Breckland bounce back from the challenges of COVID-19.

The city has a thriving digital economy and large-scale ambitions to grow this further. The council has been prepared to invest, take risks around the digital agenda and be an early adopter of new technologies.

Broxtowe Borough Council has launched a new mixed-use leisure development in Beeston, Nottingham. The development features an Arc Cinema Complex with plans in place for three new food and drink retail outlets and is aimed at bolstering the visitor economy and night-time economy to encourage people to live and work in Beeston. It is hailed as a model for the post COVID-19 revival of the UK’s town centres for playing its part in “community wealth building”.

This is the fourth case study from the report by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), supported by the LGA, which sets out examples of local authority innovation in initiatives currently being undertaken across the country, covering both urban and rural areas and working in the face of a range of housing challenges.

Gateshead Council – using local assets to back regeneration and housing development Innovation topic: Local authority led Innovation topic: Local authority led partnership to develop new mixed-tenure homes