Stevenage groups and residents can bid for £250 to £7,500 for a green project in their ward, via a councillor. £97,500 a year across 13 wards, no deadline.
Residents and community groups in Stevenage can now bid for council grants of £250 to £7,500 for small, practical green projects in their own ward, and there is no closing date. The Local Environment Action Fund, or LEAF, sets aside £7,500 a year for each of the town’s 13 wards, £97,500 in all, Stevenage Borough Council said on 19 October.
LEAF replaces what the council used to call the Climate Change Community Fund. The council says on its LEAF page that the relaunched scheme is for “community-led infrastructure projects” that address climate change and its effects. The money comes from planning gain, the payments developers make when they are given planning permission, not from council tax.
What it will pay for
The council gives cycling, planting, water conservation and energy saving as examples. The rule that matters most is that the money must buy something fixed and tangible: a bike locker, planting, a water butt, a piece of kit that stays in the ward. The scheme does not pay for running costs or for publicising a project once it is funded.
The council’s application guidance adds a few conditions worth reading before you start:
- it will not fund a project that has already been finished, so apply first and spend later;
- a project that had a LEAF grant before can apply again to expand;
- the items in your cost breakdown have to be bought within three months of the money arriving, and you keep the receipts;
- you are expected to run any community consultation the project needs, and send progress and completion photos when the council asks for them, within four weeks of the request.
How to apply
The change the council is making is in the route. A resident or group takes a proposal straight to one of their three ward councillors. If it meets the criteria, the councillor backs it and acts as its champion for council funding. Council officers then review the bid, and an agreed project is awarded its grant subject to public feedback.
The online application form is on the council’s site. The guidance says officers aim to process an application within four to six weeks, and that you should not commit to spending anything until a grant has actually been confirmed. It also says help is available for anyone who cannot apply online; the team is on LEAF@stevenage.gov.uk.
One point to check before you bid as an individual. The release says applications can come from individuals or groups, but the terms on the guidance page ask the applicant to be applying on behalf of an eligible group with its own organisational bank account. If you are on your own, ask the LEAF team or your councillor how that applies to you first.
To find your councillors, use the council’s find your councillor search. Each of the 13 wards has three.
What the council says
Councillor Rob Broom, cabinet member for environment, transport and planning, said the relaunch was “great news for residents and community groups in Stevenage”.
“This is a good opportunity to improve our environment and make our town a greener and better place to live,” he said, “and I urge anyone who has an idea of something that can help address climate change and enhance their local area in their ward to come forward and speak to your local councillor to make it a reality; don’t let this opportunity go to waste.”
The council said the changes were also meant to make sure the full £97,500 a year is actually spent across all 13 wards. Because each ward’s £7,500 is its own pot, a ward where nobody puts an idea forward is a ward where the money goes unused.
What it means for you
- If you have an idea, the first call is your ward councillor, not a form. A short note saying what you want to buy, where it would go, roughly what it costs and who it helps is enough to start the conversation.
- There is no deadline. The scheme runs on a rolling basis from year to year, but each ward’s £7,500 is shared by everyone in that ward, so an early bid stands a better chance of finding money left.
- Think fixed and physical: cycle parking, trees and planting, rainwater storage, energy saving kit for a community building. Ongoing costs will not qualify.
Groups that missed the Stevenage Community Chest, which closed on 18 October, have no such cut-off here. Tree planting is already under way elsewhere in the town too: the 80 Trees heritage trail launches on 28 October.
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