When it comes to the E-factor the green-fingered citizens of Pensarn have certainly got what it takes.
Now, thanks to an innovative funding scheme, they will be bringing a bit of colour to what was a neglected piece of land near their homes.
The tenants of flats in Ger-y-Mor are among the first to benefit from a pioneering scheme called Participatory Budgeting launched by housing association Cartrefi Conwy.
The association, which took over responsibility for Conwy County Borough Council’s housing in 2008, put up £50,000 for environmental improvements throughout the county, and asked their 3,800 tenants and leaseholders to come up with ideas.
Twenty-nine suggestions were submitted and representatives of 21 projects were then invited to the conference venue The Interchange in Old Colwyn to pitch their ideas – and seek the votes of all those present.
Around 120 tenants and local residents attended the event. After hearing the brief presentations everyone was asked to mark each project from one to 10, and the result was that all 21 projects received what they were asking for, up to a maximum of £2,500. A total of £36,000 was distributed.
The Ger-y-Mor scheme was awarded £2,400 after tenants’ spokesman David Brierley explained their proposals.
He said that 12 months ago an unattractive strip of land behind the flats, which had been covered in gravel, had been dug up by workers from the Princes Trust and the £2,400 would enable them to create three raised beds.
“That will mean that the elderly and disabled, like me, will be able to work the soil and tend the beds. It will make a huge difference to us and brighten up the place,” he said.
A £2,435 grant went to another group of green-fingered residents, this time on the Chester Avenue estate in Kinmel Bay. They plan to provide planters, hanging baskets and other items in a communal open space which once had flowers and shrubs but which has been ignored in recent years.
Meanwhile residents of Cwrt Cae Mor, Towyn, who aim to plant traditional fruit trees including apples and plums on a piece of open land received £2,500.
The representatives of each project were presented with a certificate by Cartrefi Conwy’s chief executive Andrew Bowden who said he was delighted with the response to the scheme, the first county-wide project of its kind in the area.
“The enthusiasm displayed by everyone and the range of ideas has been fantastic. It really seems to have caught the imagination and everyone here is a winner,” he said.
“I very much look forward to these schemes being developed and to going around the county and seeing them when they are completed.”
Mr Bowden said the E-factor scheme was in line with Cartrefi Conwy’s policy to engage their tenants and leaseholders in matters affecting their homes and environment.
“It was part of our promise to our tenants on transfer that they would influence and have a measure of control over what improvements they want in their own areas,” he said.
He paid tribute to the support received from the Wales Participatory Budget Unit in organising the scheme.
Bill Ellis-Jones, programme manager for the Unit, who oversaw the voting procedure, also praised the representatives for their input.
“The average score awarded to all 21 projects was higher than the Welsh average,” he said.
