Local residents and community leaders have been appointed to help shape long-term investment in two Norwich neighbourhoods, the city council announced on 13 October.

Heartsease and Pilling Park, and West Earlham and Bowthorpe, are each covered by the government’s Pride in Place programme, with up to £20 million for each area over ten years.

The appointments move the programme towards neighbourhood plans and decisions about local priorities. They do not amount to a new £40 million payment announced this week.

Who will help shape the plans

Michelle Sorrell chairs the Heartsease and Pilling Park Neighbourhood Board. Rebecca White chairs the West Earlham and Bowthorpe Neighbourhood Committee.

The council says members were selected through open recruitment, with experience spanning housing, health, education, business, youth services and community organisations.

The programme is intended to give people who live and work in the neighbourhoods a role in deciding how investment is used. The resulting plans are meant to turn those priorities into a long-term programme, rather than a single project.

What residents can do now

Heartsease and Pilling Park residents can share what they value, the difficulties they face and the changes they would like through the neighbourhood’s survey. The form says responses are anonymous unless contact details are volunteered.

West Earlham and Bowthorpe’s participation page also invites ideas through an online survey, alongside community research and future meetings. Its published timeline identifies community research as ongoing in October.

Ideas are being gathered before investment priorities are settled. Residents should distinguish giving their views from applying for a board place: the earlier recruitment rounds have closed, despite older application text remaining on some pages.

Use the official Heartsease and Pilling Park project page or West Earlham and Bowthorpe participation page for the relevant survey and updates.