DD125 Good Growth Fund Round 2: Grand Union Canal biodiversity improvements

In September 2019, OPDC published its Canal Placemaking Study (CPS), funded by the Good Growth Fund Round 1, which sets out a coherent vision and placemaking principles for the Grand Union Canal in Old Oak and Park Royal. The study identifies the opportunity to deliver quick win public realm and ecology improvements to protect its existing wild character, much loved by local communities, while at the same time celebrating its potential as a thriving public realm asset for the wider area.

Recommendation EH1 of the CPS sets out that "The Grand Union Canal should provide a continuous green edge throughout Old Oak and Park Royal, simultaneously considering the creation and protection of habitat, ensuring effective species movement, and enabling access to nature". It identifies the northern edge of the canal as a site for ecology enhancements by preserving existing wild spaces and enhancing plating in areas where businesses along the canal break up this existing wild character.

The study further suggests OPDC to "quickly demonstrate tangible, on-the ground interventions and readiness to work with the wider community and business community" (recommendation CL6.2), and to work "with local groups for community planting to foster a sense of custodianship and a 'canal community' that achieves on-going and long-term stewardship and management" (recommendation EH 2.3).

In 2019, OPDC was awarded £1.2 million of capital funding from the Mayor of London's Good Growth Fund Round 2 to deliver a series of community and public realm focused initiatives along the Grand Union Canal in Old Oak and Park Royal. The projects and funding were approved by OPDC Board on 26 September 2019 (see Appendix 1).

The project will be delivered as a volunteering opportunity for key businesses located along the canal, as a first step towards developing a comprehensive volunteering approach for the area.

This project provides an opportunity for positive post-;lockdown engagement with local businesses and community. The Design Team is keen on taking sufficient time for the development and planning stage of this project to ensure volunteering programme is flexible in scale and timescales to be rolled out in line with Covid-19 government guidance and social distancing measures.

The Design Team is seeking to procure consultants to develop a volunteering programme which will deliver new planting along the canal as outlined in OPDC's Canal Placemaking Study, and help OPDC to identify and engage with key stakeholders, be it businesses, employees or residents, to help improve the long-term safety and cleanliness of the canal and surrounding public space.

The consultants will liaise with businesses, develop and deliver volunteering days, supply planting as set out in the Canal Placemaking Study, and produce tools and recommendations to support OPDC's future volunteering opportunities.

The first output of this commission will be partnerships with key businesses that will help deliver this project. The consultants identify and liaise with relevant businesses located along the Grand Union Canal in the OPDC area, develop the planting and volunteering approach, and agree on a volunteering schedule. The bidder is requested to propose a fixed fee for this output.

The second output of this commission will be the delivery of biodiversity improvements in partnership with the businesses identified in Task 1. The consultants will supply plants as set out in the Canal Placemaking Study to the businesses and run the volunteering days with employees of those businesses and from the wider communities. The bidder is request to propose a variable fee for this output since the amount of available space for biodiversity is not clear yet.

The third output of this commission will be evaluation of the impact of volunteering days, and a list of recommendations and/or tools for future volunteering projects. The evaluation will assess the project's success in building sustainable partnerships with local businesses and employees, delivering key recommendations from OPDC's Canal Placemaking Study, and building awareness and custodianship over the canal. The bidder is requested to propose a fixed fee for this output.

Under section 149 of the quality Act 2010, as a public authority, the OPDC is subject to the public sector equality duty and must have 'due regard' to the need to (i) eliminated unlawful discriminations, harassment and victimisation; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share relevant protected characteristics and those who do not. Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belied, sex, sex orientation and marriage of civil partnership status (all except the last being 'relevant' protected characteristics).

The procurement brief explicitly refers to the diversity of the wider OPDC area and its businesses and requires candidates to explain how they intend to be inclusive in their approach to engaging with employees who first language is not English. This will help OPDC and the Mayor of London deliver the equality and inclusions policies to promote an accessible and inclusive environment and meet the Equalities Duty.

At the heart of this business volunteering project, and of the Canal Placemaking Study as a whole, is OPDC's ambition to facilitate the development of an inclusive community of canal users who will act as stewards over the canal and help OPDC, the Canal & River Trust and local authorities in making the canal into a clean, safe and welcoming environment for the wider community. This should involve current and future communities of residents, employees and visitors, and reflect the diversity of the wider area.

The businesses eligible to be a partner in this project, and recipient of the volunteering opportunity, should be located with the OPDC area on the northern edge of the canal.

OPDC will ensure the volunteering opportunities are inclusive and accessible for employees with protected characteristics, and for people whose first language is not English.

This project is part of the OPDC's In the Making programme aiming at delivering improvements and initiatives within locations where it is possible to accelerate delivery, and to provide confidence that OPDC are bring forward the regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal, by:

• Creating immediate benefits for local communities from the public investment and regeneration in Old Oak and Park Royal by improving physical links, open spaces and community infrastructure;
• Establishing a strong identity and profile for Old Oak and Park Royal further afield to attract high calibre investors and organisations who will deliver the vision; and
• Piloting activities and local initiatives that could grow with the regeneration of the area and potentially occupy space in new developments.

Funding to deliver this project is due to be spent by the end of FY20/21. However we do anticipate this spending deadline to shift if Covid-19 related restrictions remain in place throughout summer. Design Team are currently working with the GLA to confirm a grant extension. Programme and timescale adjustments will be made in coordination with the appointed consultants once the grant extension if formalised,

Key risks and issues:

a. Risk of lack of interest from businesses

Mitigation 1: The number of businesses located within the project area with a potential for biodiversity improvements is limited;

Mitigation 2: Businesses will not be required to make any financial contributions to be a partner in this project;

Mitigation 3: OPDC entertains good relationships with West London Businesses and will work with them to promote this project.

b. Landowner consent may be required for improving existing planting.

Mitigation 1: OPDC has good relations with key landowners in the area and may choose to work only with businesses located on property of those landowners if necessary.

Expenditure of up to £50,000 on consultancy as detailed in this report will be funded by the Good Growth Fund 2020/21 budget. Officers are reminded to only incur eligible capital expenditure and to submit timely grant claims to the GLA, so as not to expose the Corporation to financial risk. Further expenditure is subject to the Corporation's decision making process.

Board Paper September 2019

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