A £1.3 million environment project has been rejected by New Deal after months of negotiation between Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Sheffield City Council and local group Green City Action.
The organisations were part of the Burngreave Green Environment Project (BGEP) phase 1, which ended in March 2005, spending about £1.3 million since October 2002. Concerns were raised that phase 1 didn’t deliver enough real improvements, and phase 2 was intended to focus on practical work for Burngreave’s green spaces.
However New Deal rejected the proposal for phase 2 saying it didn’t provide value for money, and that money was being requested to fund existing posts which would hope to secure a further £1.2 million match funding to actually do the work.
New Deal now intend to tender out the work, alongside a project delivered by Green City Action. A member of the BGEP steering group expressed concern this would lead to further delays and an unco-ordinated approach.
The decision reflects a growing trend in New Deal. In July 2005 Burngreave Community Action Trust lost the Grants Scheme and in August 2005 Pitsmoor Somali Youth Project had their funding withdrawn. In both cases New Deal would only say this was due to concerns about management and delivery.