 
Morice Town Home Zone, Plymouth
Method(s) Used
Name of person who posted the project:Karin Gavelin (Involve)
Location of project:United Kingdom
Date when the project started:
Date when the project ended/project ongoing:
Background to project:A government white paper on Road Safety brought the concept of Home Zones to the attention of the Council�s Road Safety Manager, who followed up the concept and was impressed by the potential. The officer contacted the Department for Transport to express an interest and Plymouth was subsequently chosen as one of nine areas for a national Home Zones pilot. There was no central government funding attached to this pilot, so a community on the edge of an existing SRB area was chosen, Morice Town, which did have the potential of attracting funding. Morice Town was a community divided by through routes and rat runs, with roads carrying traffic travelling at inappropriate speeds into and across Plymouth. In an initial traffic survey a recorded speed of 61 miles per hour was recorded outside the school at 3.00-4.00pm, in addition To other speeds in excess of the permitted limit of 30mph. The area had no community groups and had considerable problems with anti-social behaviour. The area also had little investment in previous regeneration programmes. The central idea and impetus for the Home Zone initiative was to regenerate the area and to give it a new lease of life. Specifically it was hoped to improve the quality of life for residents. This was matched with a commitment to community consultation and bringing different groups of residents together. When the project was announced however the feeling of the community was very negative and there was little trust in the council�s intention to deliver on the Home Zone, or in their intention to consult and give ownership of the project to the community. This led the council to recognise that this would be a long term process of working with the community to build trust.Purpose of project:The initiative began with large meetings in Morice Town to introduce the concept of Home Zones. These meetings gained initial interest, but became less effective as the capacity of the community to engage positively was low. The initiative was then carried forward by a �planning for real� event and a one to one questionnaire, developed in consultation with local people. The survey targeted those not generally involved, such as children and older people.The �planning for real� exercise took a bus with plans into the community in the evenings and at weekends. It also involved local schools, with children making models and designing elements of the scheme. The exercise identified a wide variety of community concerns, but some were conflicting and made the creation of consensus Difficult. It seemed from the consultation that local people did not fully understand the concept, so a group was taken to see Home Zones in Holland and talk to the original designer and they fed back what they had seen to the community. To help get over the lingering issues about trust, the council decided to appoint external consultants to create a vision for the project, with residents making up a large contingent of the interview panel. The consultants facilitated a design workshop with local people and produced a visual image of the proposals. This was taken back to a public meeting where it won the support of most local people. The consultants then produced a street by street design to address any problems and led further workshops to gain agreement on the details. The lengthy process of design with consultation at every stage was supported by investment in infrastructure such as a newsletter written and edited by the community, a community advisory group and in the personal contact and presence in the community of the council�s Road Safety Officer. This consistent emphasis on community involvement and empowerment added considerable value to a scheme which could have been concentrated only on the physical renewal of the area. The clear investment in this ethos by council officers meant that the delivery of the initiative created changes in attitudes of local people to the council and to the development and provision of services. Project activities:The initiative began with large meetings in Morice Town to introduce the concept of Home Zones. These meetings gained initial interest, but became less effective as the capacity of the community to engage positively was low. The initiative was then carried forward by a �planning for real� event and a one to one questionnaire, developed in consultation with local people. The survey targeted those not generally involved, such as children and older people.The �planning for real� exercise took a bus with plans into the community in the evenings and at weekends. It also involved local schools, with children making models and designing elements of the scheme. The exercise identified a wide variety of community concerns, but some were conflicting and made the creation of consensus Difficult. It seemed from the consultation that local people did not fully understand the concept, so a group was taken to see Home Zones in Holland and talk to the original designer and they fed back what they had seen to the community. To help get over the lingering issues about trust, the council decided to appoint external consultants to create a vision for the project, with residents making up a large contingent of the interview panel. The consultants facilitated a design workshop with local people and produced a visual image of the proposals. This was taken back to a public meeting where it won the support of most local people. The consultants then produced a street by street design to address any problems and led further workshops to gain agreement on the details. The lengthy process of design with consultation at every stage was supported by investment in infrastructure such as a newsletter written and edited by the community, a community advisory group and in the personal contact and presence in the community of the council�s Road Safety Officer. This consistent emphasis on community involvement and empowerment added considerable value to a scheme which could have been concentrated only on the physical renewal of the area. The clear investment in this ethos by council officers meant that the delivery of the initiative created changes in attitudes of local people to the council and to the development and provision of services. Project results:
Contact details:Plymouth City CouncilCivic Centre Road Safety - Floor 10 Armada Way Plymouth PL1 2EW |
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