The ABLE Project: ABLE in Parliament

The ABLE Project

The Green Business Network (GBN) is an award-winning not-for-profit organisation delivering environmental advice and projects mainly in Yorkshire. It has attracted national interest through innovative schemes - such as The ABLE Project - that combine social inclusion, environmental protection / enhancement and economic achievement all at the same time. Through ABLE and its successors, GBN is tackling derelict, underused and neglected public land, hand-in-hand with underachieving young people.

20070211

ABLE in Parliament

House of Commons
Wednesday 7 March 2007
Questions on Social Enterprise

Mary Creagh MP: The ABLE Partnership in my constituency is funded by the Green Business Network and Wakefield Primary Care Trust. The partnership is transforming [34] acres of brownfield site donated by Yorkshire Water into a hazel coppice and a fish farm which, in three years’ time, will produce Wakefield’s first caviar. Will the Minister join me on a visit to the environmentally sustainable transformation achieved by that social partnership, which demonstrates how Wakefield is leading the way in social enterprise?

The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Edward Miliband): I look forward to joining my hon. Friend in tasting Wakefield caviar; I am sure that it will be a great experience.

[the speech was picked up by BBC Radio Leeds with Mary Creagh interviewed live the same afternoon about "the new champagne lifestyle in Wakefield"]
[link to Hansard]
[link to 'They Work For You']

Overview

The ABLE Project (Wakefield) is a closed loop recycling scheme, also known as “cardboard to caviar”. In 2004, it relocated from Kirklees onto 34 acres of brownfield land at Calder Vale WWTW (see thumbnail above - click to enlarge). The site now comprises a unique fish farm social enterprise (supported by The Coalfields Regeneration Trust), co-located with a modern, meaningful and multifunctional greenspace (funded by Biffaward).

This blog provides an overview of the considerable acclaim which ABLE has received, together with key facts about the project.

In 2006, with the assistance of Recycling Action Yorkshire, the GBN proposed a follow-on scheme "CLONES". Using Calder Vale as the hub, "CLONES" will establish a cluster of best practise sites by replicating the environmentally sustainable ‘ABLE Principles’. These sites will be actively networked to ensure “joined up thinking” and symbiosis.

The ABLE Project

20070211

ABLE in Parliament

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