Learning and Resources
Community Savers is all about sharing reflection and learning. Leaders co-create a range of knowledge, research, publications and toolkits for use within our network and sharing with a wider audience. Below you can also find webinars from our 2021 Community Voice in Planning series.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? We are always looking to learn and share.
If you have a burning question, or there is anything you can’t find here, please drop us a line.
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Neighbourhood-based reports and publications
Ageing Well in Place in Hulme
Hulme tenants have been leading on work to support older and vulnerable tower block tenants to ‘live well and with dignity in the place they call home’ since 2020. Tenants at a tower block called Hopton Court catalysed this work carrying out their own survey about the social isolation and health inequalities in their own block leading to the formation of a multi-stakeholder partnership called Ageing Well in Place in Hulme.
Access publications from the partnership below.
Ageing Well in Place at Meredith Court (2024)
The Cost of Living in Aquarius Tower Blocks (2022)
Neighbourhood visioning
Community Savers and CLASS support communities to form neighbourhood forums that can bring residents and community groups together for community-led visioning and action planning around local needs and priorities. Miles Platting Community and Age-friendly Network (MPCAN) was the first affiliated neighbourhood forum and has used this baseline report to achieve great things including a wildlife corridor, new homes for social rent, and a new CIO called St Cuthberts Communities Together focused on redeveloping a church site into a multipurpose worship space and community hub.
Community Voice in Planning
Between 2018-2019 community leaders from 11 different neighbourhoods joined together into ‘Inner City Exchange’ gatherings to share stories of neighbourhood change, challenges and solutions. They agreed to work together on stemming the tide of low income households being pushed out of the city through gentrification when COVID hit. Together we focused on digital skills building and worked on learning about the housing and planning system throughout lockdown. This work later led to the formation of the Social Homes for Manchester coalition (2023) and the launch of the Manchester Social Housing Commission (2024). Here you can still access slides and webinars from our online Community Voice in Planning series which took place between January and March 2021. Thanks to all the contributors and participants who made it such an interesting and engaging set of discussions. Some Zoom recordings have been edited to remove questions and discussion.
The Local Plan – 5th Feb 2021
David Rudlin from URBED presented on the new five year development plan that is being written for the City of Manchester. We considered its implications for the kinds of developments that will be allowed in the City and in particular local neighbourhoods.
David’s online briefing:
Ageing well in place & 20 minute neighbourhoods – 5th March 2021
Sophie King (CLASS) shared ideas drawn from other recent talks and local experiments considering ageing well in place and Carolyn Kagan (Steady State Manchester) presented on the complementary concept of the 20 minute neighbourhood and how this is being put into practice around the world.
- 20 min neighbourhoods Powerpoint slides
- Ageing Well in Place Powerpoint slides
20 min neighbourhoods online briefing:
Planning applications – 19th March 2021
Naomi Luhde Thompson (Rights: Community: Action!) shared her experiences of the end to end local planning application and decision-making process.
Proactive approaches – 12th March 2021
Kat Wong (URBED) shared ideas about the different ways in which communities can be proactive about shaping how land, property and green spaces are used in their neighbourhood including neighbourhood planning, assets of community value and community asset transfer.
Kat’s online briefing:
Affordable housing policy – 12th Feb 2021
Dr Richard Goulding (Research Associate, University of Sheffield) presented on a range of issues from housing trends in recent decades to levels of housing need, current affordable housing policy and the kinds of policy shifts that could support a higher level of affordable housing in Manchester.
Richard’s online briefing:
Permitted Development Rights consultation – 8th Jan 2021
Hannah Berry from Greater Manchester Housing Action stood in for Naomi Luhde-Thompson from Rights Community Action and Friends of the Earth to explain the latest proposals to extend something called ‘Permitted Development Rights’ from the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government. The consultation deadline is 28 January 2021.
This first session was originally to be focused on local developments and the local planning process and this will be rescheduled for the end of the course.
Further information and downloads:
Template letter for local leaders including links to further information about the proposals (also sent by email immediately after the session).
The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework – 15th Jan 2021
David Rudlin from URBED and Mark Burton from Steady State Manchester presented to participants on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework: What is the GMSF? What does it mean for Manchester? What does it mean for my local area? How does it link to other kinds of planning policy?
Mark’s online briefing:
David’s online briefing: