News Release - 22 August 2006

12 of the region’s leading lights to guide Inspire East

A 12 - strong board with a diverse range of skills and expertise has been appointed to guide the work of Inspire East.

Inspire East, the regional centre of excellence for sustainable communities, has established a board to strategically guide the organisation’s priorities and help steer its future direction. Those appointed to the new board have a cross section of interests and experience of working in a range of sectors, across the region, which deal with the delivery and management of sustainable communities.

Quote from Gwyn Jones, Executive Director Inspire East “we welcome the energy and expertise that the individual board members will bring to guiding Inspire East’s delivery.”

The new board includes James Hehir, chief executive of Ipswich Borough Council (Suffolk); Mary Spence, chief executive of Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership (Essex); David Ralph director of NELM Development Trust  – The New Deal for Communities pathfinder in Norwich (Norfolk); and Peter Studdert, director for sustainable communities at Cambridgeshire Horizons.  (See below for full list of members).  They were recruited through an open selection process from a strong list of potential applicants.

Inspire East champions the creation of high quality places to live, work and visit.  It supports people working in the built environment and community regeneration occupations and professionals, in public, private and voluntary sectors.  It aims to deliver the knowledge, skills and advice to inspire people to use and apply best practice. 

The new board comprises of:

Paul Burall – Inspire East Chair and EEDA Board Member
Judith Grice - Regional Director, Groundwork, East of England
Sue Hay - Regional Delivery Support Manager, Government Office East of England
James Hehir - Chief Executive, Ipswich Borough Council
Greg Luton - Regional Director, English Heritage
David Potter - Regional Operations Director, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
David Ralph - Director of NELM Development Trust (North Earlham, Larkham and Marlpit)  – The New Deal for Communities pathfinder in Norwich.
Michele Rigby - Chief Executive, Social Enterprise East of England
Mary Spence - Chief Executive, Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership
Sal Brinton - Executive Director, Association of Universities in the East of England
Peter Studdert - Director for Sustainable Communities, Cambridgeshire Horizons
David Thompson – Principal of LSI Architects and Chair of RIBA East

ends

Notes to Editors

For press enquiries please contact:
Jen Wingate at Inspire East on tel:01223 484607 email: jenwingate@eeda.org.uk
Jo Ward at Inspire East on tel: 01223 484644 email: joannaward@eeda.org.uk
About Inspire East
Inspire East is the regional centre of excellence for sustainable communities in the East of England and is supported by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

Inspire East was set up in April 2005 and champions the creation of high quality sustainable communities. It works with individuals and organisations from a wide range of private, public, voluntary and community sectors to deliver the knowledge, skills and independent advice that will inspire them to harness and implement best practice. Inspire East also works to influence regional and national policy.

This summer Inspire East held a conference called the ‘Big Event’ held in Norwich, to promote its activities. It was attended by nearly 200 delegates and saw the launch of two important new regional services - a Design Review Panel and an Enabling Service.

• Design Review Panel –  a free expert service to advise on the quality of the development of new communities and building projects in the region - first meeting to be held on 27 September 2006
• Enabling Service – also a free service to provide individual support and expertise to a variety of sustainable community projects

Inspire East’s other success stories to date include:

• developed a new web site to provide signposting advice and best practice information about regeneration in the region
• supported the development of a Quality Charter for Growth in the Cambridgeshire area
• supported an innovative housing demonstrator project in Elmswell, Suffolk
• delivered design training in Southend-on-Sea, Cambridge and Harlow
• produced best practice guidance on community engagement including for the planning process in Essex and Cambridge.

For further information on Inspire East visit: www.inspire-east.org.uk or e-mail:  enquiries@inspire-east.org.uk

About EEDA

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The vision for the East of England is to create a leading economy, founded on a world class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here.  For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk

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