Community development work in St Neots will be continuing, although Huntingdonshire District Council’s community development officer, Penny Litchfield, who has been based in the town has moved temporarily to Huntingdon while new premises are found.
This move marks the first stage towards developing neighbourhood management in St Neots – an exciting focus on the Eynesbury area of the town. Dan Smith, Community Development Manager for Huntingdonshire District Council said: “The first step is to establish a neighbourhood office where staff from various organisations will be able to work together to improve services. This is much easier when all they relevant people work as a team from the same base and we look forward to having Penny based in St Neots once again.”
Community development consists of bringing people together, reducing social isolation and increasing a sense of community. This means working with residents groups and other community groups to build up links among people locally. In St Neots there has also been an identified need for services and facilities for young people. Projects such as those with youth groups, young parents and various training opportunities have all started. The aim is always to identify what needs doing and help make improvements so people get more out of the place where they live. A great deal of consultation has taken place to find out including a survey of families in Eynesbury last winter and one in June about the planned new Eatons building.
The move has come about because St Neots Town Council who have rented the office space now need it for their own staff. Penny said: “The town council has been really supportive to our work and both town and district councils have benefited from the close working arrangements. Being located in the town has enabled members of the public to visit the community development office at the same time as they come into the town council office or the Priory Centre for other business so has been very convenient.”
Penny can now be contacted on 01480 388262 or 07810 637566 or by email on which is on the right hand side of the page.