Salterbeck Launch its new 10 year Community Plan

Latest news... click here to see our YouTube video on the Community plan

Residents, local councillors and representatives from local organisations came together at the Oval Centre on Saturday morning to celebrate the launch of the Salterbeck Community Plan.

Ten years ago, Salterbeck was not a popular place, with many empty properties and many local families leaving the estate. The first Salterbeck Community Plan got people together and set out the actions that would be needed to “turn around” the estate. That Plan was hugely successful. Now, there is a long waiting list for empty properties and it is a place where families want to live.

However, whilst Salterbeck is now very popular, there are things that have nor changed as much as everyone had hoped- levels of employment, educational attainment, health. The new Plan that was launched on Saturday celebrates the many successes already achieved on Salterbeck, the many assets in the community but  more importantly  sets out a vision of how Salterbeck could be in ten years.     

Over 40 people attended the event all  getting involved in activities to find out about future plans and projects.  They talked to staff from Impact Housing, members of Salterbeck Residents Association and young people from the Salterbeck Youth Project, finding out about their plans and ideas for the future.   A  DVD was also shown which took the audience back to the 1990’s to see what Salterbeck was like then, and then forwarded ten years to 2021 to see how Salterbeck could be.

Some of the stalls at the launch covered:

• Tenancy training programme
• Achieving a Health and Safety Qualification
• Gaining support to develop a business
• Health Club and healthy living activities
• Eco group
• Community volunteers

Cora Jones, a young Salterbeck resident, spoke of how being involved in activities on the estate had given her the confidence to speak up in public and to speak on behalf of other young people in the area. “I have been involved in the Salterbeck Youth Project for over 18 months. We have visited young people in other areas, met politicians and worked hard to come up with our ideas on what can be done for young people on Salterbeck. Our ideas have been listened to and they have been included in the new Plan. We all feel that we have a chance to make a difference”.

Lillian Baldry, Chair of the Salterbeck Residents’ Association, introduced the day and invited all of the organisations that were represented in the room and all the local residents to work together to achieve the ambitious targets that are set out in the new Salterbeck Plan. “I remember how much a struggle it was in those early days to get people to work together. Now, I urge everyone to take up this new challenge.”

 Mike Muir, Chief Executive of Impact Housing, gave the Keynote Speech, launching the Plan “I was really impressed at how many of the  people who all got together to write the first Plan were still around, still in the room, still committed to the future of Salterbeck. With that same level of commitment, I am confident that we can all do great things together over the next 10 years. Money is tighter now, but it is not about money, it is about a new approach and a new vision. I am absolutely confident that  we can achieve the same successes again.”