Neighbourhood Forum

1)     Amongst all the (non-parished) Wards bidding for NCIL funds, KDBH is unique in having a high level of community interaction through its Neighbourhood Forum.  So, for example, we all an on-line survey to seek community feedback on the KDBH bids that generated >1,000 responses, the results of which were an important element in our report to the Council.  

What we had not realised, however, is that the Council’s process of applying a single standardised assessment across all bids meant that our community feedback could not be included, hence our queries on scoring.   Having identified the issue, there was total agreement that excluding a source of well-structured and independent community feedback is clearly not right; and that the assessment for 21/22 needs to consider how to reflect differences due to KDBH having a Neighbourhood Forum.       

2)     One topic drew much discussion:  if a bid is discounted because its cost exceeds funds available, can another, lower-cost bid that scores well be considered for approval?This is pertinent to the St Philips Church and Dorridge Scout Group Bids, and is the reason why so much of Dorridge funds rolled over into next year.

Differences in opinion have been debated twice at the Council’s Scrutiny Board, resulting in the Council’s firm position that a lesser cost bid cannot ‘leapfrog’ a bid rejected on cost grounds.  Ultimately, we agreed to differ. But what we could all agree on is that it is entirely appropriate for the Forum to liaise with all bidders as they develop their bids and, in doing so, create awareness of the overall picture and potential mix of outcomes.  

3).     The term ‘pass’ for a bid is confusing and open to misinterpretation.  The clarification provided is that ‘pass’ means a bid has met the minimum criteria for it to be considered - but not that it automatically has in principle approval.  The Council will seek to make this clearer for 2021/2 bids.

13 October 2020

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The Council has just released details of the bids received for community project funding this year.  In the KDBH area six project bids were received. The funding for 2020/21 is currently allocated by the Council on a Ward basis as follows: Knowle £55,122 and Dorridge £41,959 making a total of £97,081, a sizeable increase from £38,000 available last year. This is great news and means we are able to deliver a much greater level of benefit to our community this year.  

We are very keen to receive resident feedback on the project bids and as we are unable to hold an Open Forum meeting as we did last year to review and discuss the projects we have put together a 'quick and easy' voting and comments form.  Time is short, however, as we have to respond to Solihull Council by 23rd October which means we need to act fast. As we will need a couple of days to review the voting results and feedback received as well as prepare our response to the Council we will need to close voting at 17.00 on 21st October.  Vote for your preferred project via the button below.

Thank you in advance for reviewing the project bids submitted and providing us with your views.  This represents a very important part of our engagement process with the local KDBH community. The more responses we receive the greater confidence Solihull Council will have that the most supported and appropriate project bids have been selected for funding.

10 June 2020

£97,081 Funding Confirmed for New Community Projects in KDBH

There's More Time to Bid This Year + We're Here to Help!

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You may recall that one of the benefits of Knowle, Dorridge and Bentley Heath (KDBH) having an adopted Neighbourhood Plan (NP) is that we get a larger share of the money that developers pay to the Council for some new builds in our Area.  The Council must make these funds (called NCIL) available to the community, who then get to say how they would like to spend it within a certain set of nationally defined criteria.  Last year two community projects were successful in their bid for funding:

     Dorridge Village Hall: Extension - £20,000         Knowle Village Hall: Emergency Exits - £8,200

In addition, by working in liaison with the Council, the £4,000 bid from Pennys Youth Café in Knowle to refurbish the café and purchase IT equipment was successfully sourced from an alternative fund.

A big 'shout out' to Ellie from the Council for her positive and proactive approach working closely with us to improve the process for KDBH - Solihull's only Neighbourhood Forum with an adopted Neighbourhood Plan.

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£97,081

the total amount now confirmed as available in KDBH for 2020/21

This total is currently split into two pots:

Knowle:                                         £55,122

Dorridge and Bentley Heath:    £41,960

Although Covid-19 related delays to construction have reduced the total originally anticipated, the figure is still double last year's funding. :)

As you might expect, there is a formal application process and defined criteria that the Council uses for assessing the relative merits of different bids (typically there won't be enough money to do everything).  For example, more points are awarded if a proposal can demonstrate how it links into the objectives and/or policies set out (and voted on by residents) in the KDBH Neighbourhood Plan (NP).   To help with this, and provide a 'big picture' view locally of the bids coming through, the Council will refer all funding applications to the Forum.

We are very happy to support any community group or organisation who may be thinking about bidding and would like some advice or guidance to understand: what type of bid will qualify; what is required; and how to go about preparing a bid application.    

This is a really important strand of Forum activity, with the aim to help realise the full potential of the scheme to benefit our community.  

Roger Cook, our Deputy Chair, has therefore taken up the mantle to lead all funding related activities on behalf of the Forum team.  Even if a bid doesn't qualify under this particular scheme, Roger is also working with the Council to identify potential alternative sources of funding or assistance that may apply.

So, if you've got an idea that you want to sound out, please do get in contact with Roger at roger.cookkdbh@gmail.com.

As an aid to getting your thinking flowing:

• you can read details of last year's submissions Here

• or perhaps Covid-19 has triggered some thoughts on aspects of life in our community that could benefit from some investment?  

• Appendix 4 of our Neighbourhood Plan   describes a number of 'Community Actions' that residents have flagged for future action.  Click Here to view this document  

More details on how the Council operates the scheme and how to apply via the button below. 

Applications can be submitted any time from now until the closing date on 1st September

February 2020

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Funding for Community Projects in 2020/21 - £150,000 + available

We'll know exactly the funds available in financial year 2020/21 in early April.  However, the pot already stands at over £150,000 - a big step up on the £37,800 in 2019/20. Bidding opens in April 2020, probably through to the end of August.  So interested groups can get their thinking caps on straight away!  

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If you are a KDBH community group or organisation and want some guidance or support in preparing a bid, please contact Roger Cook, who is leading work on this on behalf of the Forum Team, via email to

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The Council's funding request form, with supporting documents, are available Here

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In January 2020, we met with the Council  to discuss learnings from the scheme's first year of operation and what could be improved - particularly as we are unique in the Borough as having an active Neighbourhood Forum with an adopted Neighbourhood Plan.  Other non-Parished areas are generally less aware of the funding available and therefore more reliant on funding decisions being made by the Council.  Key points for improvement are:

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• The need to ensure greater awareness of the scheme across the KDBH community. This is our greatest concern, and one where we can really help.  We've therefore committed to using the strong local networks created during Neighbourhood Plan development, as well as our website and Facebook page, to reach out across the community.

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• The need to improve the Council's documentation on the scheme, making it easier to understand and clearer on what does and doesn't count as a potential project. The Council agreed to look at this.

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• More help and guidance for potential bidders.  The Council has agreed to refer bidders to a nominated Forum contact (see above) for initial guidance and support, eg. to help identify if/how a project fits with the Neighbourhood Plan; where there may be cross-benefits where bids work together; or where other sources of funding may be more appropriate / available.  

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• Improving assessment of bids.  The Council would find it really helpful to have a clear framework of KDBH overall community needs and priorities which they can use to more easily and objectively assess bids.  So we've committed to working with the community to try and develop this.  Starting with the Community Actions already in the Neighbourhood Plan, we would look ultimately perhaps to creating a more 'strategic' rolling 3-year view.

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We will keep you posted on developments via this page.....