City Services Group’s Post

🌟 Reflecting on our journey at McElrea Consulting 🌟 In the hustle and bustle of our daily work, it's easy to overlook the milestones we've achieved lately. At McElrea Consulting, we've had the privilege of collaborating with various organisations on a diverse range of projects, each contributing to the betterment of our communities. Below are a few of our recent highlights: 🤝 **Community and Stakeholder Engagement:** - Central Otago Airport Project, Christchurch International Airport Limited: Guiding community and stakeholder engagement efforts, ensuring inclusivity and transparency. - Community Conversations – Waitaki District Council: Orchestrating transformative dialogues, aligning community aspirations with council priorities. - Greater Christchurch Urban Growth Partnership: Facilitating workshops and webinars to gather resident feedback on regional issues. - Facilitated numerous other workshops where stakeholders convened to collaboratively identify opportunities and priorities for specific areas of focus. Additionally, organised annual planning workshops involving various teams within organisations to devise plans and set priorities for the future. 🏘️ **Community Development Initiatives:** - Strategic Doing Workshops: Driving initiatives in housing and environmental conservation. 📊 **Feasibility Studies & Strategies:** - Conducting feasibility studies for Gore Community Hub, Waimea Plains Railway Trust, and Cromwell Menzshed laying the groundwork for sustainable initiatives. - Utilising Investment Logic Mapping for the Joint Housing Action Plan for Queenstown Lakes District Council. - Crafting strategic plans, including an age-friendly strategy, newcomers strategies, and workforce plans, to address community needs. - Establishing a baseline for arts in Southland to support cultural development. 🔄 **Project Management & Development:** - Managing the initial phase of the 'Southern Way' Touring Network, fostering collaboration among tourism organisations. - Spearheading the Central Otago Touring Route development to showcase the region's attractions. 📝 **Policy Review and Implementation:** - Assisting councils in refining policies and bylaws, ensuring alignment with community needs. Our commitment to community empowerment and sustainable development drives every project we undertake. Thank you to our partners, clients, and communities for entrusting us with your vision and aspirations. Together, let's continue building a brighter future. #McElreaConsulting #CommunityImpact

Dive into the future of Housing Management at SFHA's 2024 conference! Connect with housing professionals, explore best practices, and tackle crucial topics like tenant support, community investment, and more. 🏡 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eKzF23if

Community Wealth Building in South Australia

This is a really exciting report showcasing the links between #communitywealthbuilding #place and #creativeplacemaking to build stronger and more resilient communities. Great work!

CWDM’s budget guided by dignity, economic growth, and safety The Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) has presented a R503,9 million budget that includes R127,2 million for capital projects – emphasising dignity, economic growth and safety. Mayor Ald (Dr) Elna von Schlicht assured that the budget is credible and focused on meeting basic needs, stimulating economic growth, and enhancing public safety. Key allocations include over 23% for social development projects, such as ECD support and sanitary towel distribution, and funds for safety and environmental health projects, including a safe passage sidewalk for the visually impaired and road safety initiatives. Furthermore, R800 000 is allocated to the Community Safety Implementation Plan. Economic growth and tourism are also prioritised, with 20% of the budget allocated to local economic development and 8% to EPWP projects. The recent Winelands Autumn Expo was attended by over 2 000 visitors and highlighted local tourism and products – plans are in place for the annual subsidisation of this event. The budget aims to rekindle hope, ensure equal opportunities, create jobs, and foster safer communities. You can read the full press release on our website: https://lnkd.in/dW9-arxU

Prepping for an exciting Q4 ahead ⬇️ We’re extremely grateful for all of the support we’ve had for our Gresham Redevelopment project so far. As we move into Autumn, we have a busy but exciting few months ahead of us. Here’s a few snippets of what we’ll be working on behind the scenes and sharing more information on as soon as we can... 🗞 Spotlight on The Gresham Development: Look out for our feature in Tees Business later this week! ✅ Planning Ahead: We're partnering with Lichfields UK to prepare our planning application for submission. 🧱 Building Partnerships: Our team is hard at work selecting the main contractor for the project. 🏨 Hotel Discussions: We’re actively engaging in conversations around hotel operator and brand options. 🤝 Community Engagement: We’re meeting with local businesses one-on-one to gather their insights and feedback. ❤️ Giving Back: The team is exploring opportunities for impactful CSR initiatives in the area. Have questions? We're here to help. Feel free to reach out to us anytime for assistance. #northeast #teesside #community #development

📢 TIS Safe and Sound event programme spotlight: Putting safety first/Damp and mould ⏰ Wednesday 20th March 2024 | 10:00am – 4:00pm | Studio Venues, Glasgow 🎙️ Callum Chomczuk – National Director (Scotland) at the CIH Chartered Institute of Housing and Alexander Carle – Director of Asset Management at Grampian Housing Association   The fundamental role of social landlords is to provide tenants with safe homes to live in. This includes effectively and promptly resolving issues in homes which pose a danger to health and wellbeing, including damp and/ or mould. If damp and mould are left untreated for long periods, health problems can be serious or, in extreme cases, fatal.    Most social homes in Scotland are of good quality: almost nine out of ten tenants say they are happy with the homes and services their landlord provides. But where issues with damp or mould do arise, it is imperative that they are taken seriously.    Callum Chomczuk – National Director (Scotland) at the CIH will speak to the guidance and principles of Putting Safety First, and Alexander Carle – Director of Asset Management at Grampian Housing Association will share the work of Grampian Housing Association in managing damp and mould.  To book your place please visit https://lnkd.in/egGYHShX or email us at info@tis.org.uk

MOST LIVEABLE REGION IN SA Council has completed an extensive community engagement process for the development of the Community Plan 2044. This long-term strategic vision is designed to ensure we are the most liveable region in South Australia. During the six-week engagement period (20 May - 2 July 2024), we reached out to residents across the district through drop-in sessions, surveys, social media, and written submissions. Your feedback has played a crucial role in shaping this plan, which is structured around five key pillars: 🌱 Environment – Clearer environmental benchmarks, climate adaptation, and urban greening are key priorities. 👥 People – Enhancing liveability, supporting positive ageing, and volunteer initiatives were strongly highlighted. 🏘 Place – We’ve addressed concerns about infrastructure development, public transport, and heritage preservation. 📈 Economy – Support for local businesses and mature-aged workers is front and centre in our economic objectives. 🤝 Leadership – Strengthening community engagement and transparent decision-making are critical to future governance. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed their ideas! Read the Community Plan https://lnkd.in/gcaHFB_E

Heritage as a catalyst for economic stimulation and social wellbeing is in the spotlight. https://lnkd.in/eSh82bmD At the Hop Pole Inn, Limpley Stoke, the community have come together to ‘rescue’ the oldest secular building in their community. https://lnkd.in/eBUtAZ7w & https://lnkd.in/eUyW6VgZ This is a project with so much happening; heritage regeneration, saving a building at risk, community engagement, low energy retrofit, economic stimulation, training, local business support, the list goes on and on….. The Limpley Stoke Community Benefit Society and its +600 shareholders have come together to save the building for the community, address the substantial heritage deficit and renovate the building to serve as a low energy pub and community hub to support social cohesion and incubate tourism and investment into the village. As if this was not enough, the Society have been reaching out to local businesses to arrange training opportunities. https://lnkd.in/e6NFPAjF The building while much altered over centuries still retains much of its early fabric. The original building is likely a farm, hall house dating to the 1500s, is built of stone set in earth mortar, has in-situ elm structured floors, a smoke bay, Tudor chimney piece and has been little altered since its last major renovation in 1860s. Our work with SPAB and Daahir Mohamed of Amar Eco-Plaster and Bristol Heritage Skills has enabled the Hop Pole Renovation to serve as a test bed for training of Refugees seeking to expand their knowledge and ability with traditional lime plaster. Daahir lead a course exploring the principles of traditional lime plastering and the importance of understanding historic fabric when introducing insulating plasters. Though engagement with Bristol Refugee Festival, Majid (Iran), Ayham (Syria) and Rehema (Uganda) joined the weeklong course. The participants knowledge of construction and traditional craft skills from their home countries has been wholly additive. Their ability to see the building with fresh eyes underpins mutual learning and informs critical discussion on the methods and materials we might use. Bringing people together on a truly multifaceted project has proven to be hard work but the positive outcomes are immediate and enduring. This is a first step in what we hope will become a dynamic, engaging and expansive action to improve social cohesion though training and direct engagement in a heritage project placed at a cross roads of community and policy. So what next? We hope to see more funding channelled into projects like this so that costs can be covered and enable more people to be involved. I’d welcome key stakeholders to reach out to me and help us make this a possibility. 

📅 Safe and Sound: How do we improve tenant wellbeing and provide healthy homes in safe places to live? With keynote speakers including Energy Action Scotland, CIH Scotland, Grampian Housing Association, Scottish Housing Regulator, and The Larder the Safe and Sound event is guaranteed to cover a range of topical issues and themes from across the Scottish social housing sector. Everyone should have access to safe, sustainable, and affordable housing which can deliver thriving communities in Scotland. Social housing landlords have a vital role to play in providing tenants with safe, secure, well-maintained homes; and a fundamental responsibility in resolving issues that pose a danger to health and wellbeing promptly. ➔ Wednesday 20th March 2024, 10:00am – 4:00pm, Studio Venues, Glasgow 🎁 Did you know TIS members receive a 25% discount at our Safe and Sound event, and the 3 for 2 delegate promotion? Key themes to be addressed include:   🔹 The impact of increasing fuel poverty 🔸 The challenges posed by the rising cost of living 🔹 The ongoing public health and housing crisis 🔸 Ensuring fire safety in residential buildings 🔹 Addressing issues of damp and mould 🔸 Tackling poverty and hunger Book your place here: https://lnkd.in/egGYHShX