Imelda Havers: Power to the people in new regeneration game

Professionals, whose grassroots projects helped improved the lives of communities over the last 13 years, may well feel a sense of

despondency at the public sector cuts that seem to have become a daily occurrence.

A recent report into the British seaside tourism industry, by Professor Steve Fothergill of Sheffield Hallam University, offers a timely reminder of the knock-on positive effect of regeneration schemes.

Our coastal economy has survived and is growing, as Prof Fothergill rightly concludes. But it is the public money that has been pumped in to resorts such as Scarborough and Bridlington that has been the lifeblood of vital regeneration schemes. They have enabled the towns' ice cream economies to become flavour of the month

once again.

Public spending cuts have already cast doubt over regeneration schemes still in the pipeline and there will be plenty more whose fate is now uncertain. Tower Works in Leeds, Bradford City Park and the 1bn York Central scheme to create a new quarter in the city are just some

of the larger-scale projects in the firing line to be delayed, scaled down or cancelled.

Yet, despite the palpable sense of dread among the regeneration community, I believe the cuts and the inevitable shake-up of the way in which regeneration schemes will be delivered is not all bad news.

For a start, the scything of management and bureaucracy should channel more power back to where it should be: in the hands of local people. It is they who know what communities need and want.

The cumbersome management structure that involved central government dictating to the regional development agencies, who then passed on targets to local government, has too often seen funding creamed off at every level, leaving the people on the ground, where regeneration projects are happening, scratching around to raise the resources they need.

In the past, a lack of communication between Government and communities has led to some misguided splurging of public money, including the creation of white elephants like the flagship millennium environmental project, Doncaster's 36m Earth Centre, which has been derelict for the last five years.

Having languished at the bottom of Doncaster Council's in-tray, there is now, for the first time, a real chance the Earth Centre could be revived as a mecca for "intelligent sustainability", with the local community on board playing a crucial role.

Eliminating the top-heavy approach that has gone before could and should also mean more rather than less money for neighbourhoods.

David Cameron has talked at length, and loudly, about his party's localism agenda and his desire to see power pushed out to communities. To date, though, the Government has been persistently vague on the detail of just how it will make that happen.

One thing is for sure: there must be a structured approach by

Government. Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, and Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, have told local authorities to draw up plans for local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to replace the RDAs.

Investing local authorities with more power is all to the good as it will mean they will have to vastly improve their communication with and trust in communities. At present, the divide is gaping: communities don't trust local authorities and, broadly, the feeling is mutual.

The impending changes could present a huge opportunity for communities if they can reorganise themselves to become an integral part of their own regeneration future.

Regeneration is going to be tough but communities that believe they can deliver change – and make strong cases for their projects – could see some rich rewards in the shape of regeneration schemes that truly benefit local people.

One idea that is starting to take hold across the UK is the acquisition of land by local groups, to build much-needed new homes, under the community land trusts banner.

We could also see the strategy of raising money from within communities start to take centre stage. A great example already on the go is Settle Hydro, a community-led organisation which has developed alternative energy generation with the installation of a 50kW hydro-electric installation at Settle Weir. The scheme will generate enough electricity to supply 50 houses and save 80 tonnes of carbon per year.

Projects like Settle Hydro show that communities are more than capable of improving their neighbourhoods, if local needs take priority over centrally driven agendas. All they need is the freedom to do it, and the support from professionals wherever it is needed.

It's now the Government's job to untangle the confusion over how regeneration will be delivered, fill in the real detail of how it will happen and start serving the local communities and neighbourhoods they have pledged to help.

Imelda Havers is managing director of York-based regeneration

consultants and project managers BlueFish Regeneration.