Alliance background and activities
The partners identified at the submission stage that the common issues between Sheffield and Rotherham, and the reason why they had joined together in the MARE project, are the need for town centre regeneration with change pressures in the urban areas on the same river catchment watershed with each pressure being an influence on the catchment.
Although the municipalities share a common economy and travel to work patterns with significant cross flow of people working cross border they have separate political and administrative arrangements and working together tends to occur only on a project or specific programme basis not as a natural pattern of activity.
One of the major comparable issues is how the respective partners regenerate their urban centres with a focus on their river side corridors for desired investment and development in these areas of high flood risk.
Since the setting up of the DCLAA further partners in the same rivers catchment have been brought in and the alliance is an open forum.
Initially Demonstration Project based (i.e. city regeneration in a flood zone) from exchange between the three main partners however the forum seeks also to keep Members fully apprised of the changes and responsibilities being introduced in the field of water management so as to achieve greater and wider understanding. This includes transnational and national policy responses in terms of flood and water management and associated structures being conceived.
It is considered that no other catchment partnership is operating on the same basis.
In terms of National Policy direction the forum has achieved engagement with main Government Agency (The Environment Agency) on policy direction for the catchment and river delivery. In this regard the partnership is urging the Environment Agency to lead on strategic direction in a more integrated and expansive way in order to ensure wider understanding and partnership.
In terms of Transnational understanding the DCLAA links with YHLAA and the FRC/SAWA/SKINT Interreg projects.
