Camden launches final phase of Future Neighbourhood in Somers Town
The Somers Town community got together to mark the next phase of a bold set of environmental projects that are bringing the community together to improve the climate resilience of their area.
In November 2021 it was announced that Camden Council had been successful in a bid to the Mayor of London for funding from the Future Neighbourhoods 2030 programme, and have recently committed an additional £1.3 million of funding to the project, taking their total of support up to £3.5 million.
The project is delivered in partnership with a range of organisation and businesses based or working in Somers Town and led by Somers Town Community Association, Somers Town Neighbourhood Forum and Camden Council.
I am delighted that the Mayor of London has committed substantial further funding to this community led project.“Our aim is to support the Somers Town community to tackle the climate crisis in a way that creates a fairer future for everyone living in the area.
In the first two phases of this project, the community took the lead in delivering local sustainability projects that reduced air pollution, improved the energy efficiency of homes and transformed the local market into a space that focuses on access to repair and reuse services that help address the cost of living.
Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, said:
“Future Neighbourhoods 2030 is all about communities showing what a net zero carbon London will look and feel like.
“I am delighted that the Mayor of London can further fund and support Somers Town and Camden Council as they continue to lower emissions, clean up their air and transform their homes, as we work towards a greener and fairer city for all.”
Successes in the first two phases of the project have seen us reach over 4,000 residents through projects like Lifeafterhummus Community Benefit Society who developed a social supermarket and a surplus food redistribution network to reduce waste, with so far five tonnes of surplus food redistributed and helping people with the cost-of-living crisis.
Another initiative is the coaching provided to residents to join the circular economy revolution that’s happening locally at Chalton Street Market, with over 10 new micro businesses starting up to sell food and crafts.
We have also seen infrastructure investment including healthy school streets that improve air quality at the school gates, over 200m2 of new planting to housing estates and the installation of insulation to almost 50 homes, with supporting energy efficiency advice.
Working with our communities we have now launched the third and final phase of Future Neighbourhoods, which will run until December 2025.
Councillor Harrison continued:
“A key focus of phase three is the legacy which we are building through empowering our communities to continue on their journey to a more sustainable future.
“Our communities have now taken ownership of these projects and are ensuring that they are responding to local needs.
“We want to reach more residents and local businesses to help them understand how climate change is affecting us and work together on activities and solutions that support them and the environment at the same time.
“Our goal is to take the successful template from the Future Neighbourhoods programme here in Somers Town and reproduce it in other Camden communities to make a real impact.”
In the third phase of the project, we are planning to consolidate Chalton Street market as a centre of excellence in the circular economy, continue to improve the energy efficiency of our local housing stock and work with residents to increase knowledge and understanding around the climate crisis, so we can all take positive steps to reduce our carbon footprints.
You can watch a video explaining more about our Future Neighbourhoods project in Somers Town online here