Pride of Place: Who Cares? Who Leads?

1. Pride of Place: Who Cares? Who Leads? Residents and Partners Working Together for Change

2. Content • Overview of area • Overview of the POP Partnership aims and objectives • The Quality Mark – how was it for us? • Our Neighbourhood Action Plan • Empowering residents – what works for us • Co-production

3. Background to Upper Horfield and BCHF • Originally built in 1926 under ‘Homes for Heroes’ scheme but estate fell into decline in the 1980s • Completely redeveloped between 2002 to 2008 • 450 properties managed by BCHF plus a further 500 new private homes • Key corridor on the northern edge of the city • BCHF established in 2002 to oversee the redevelopment and manage the stock • BCHF embarked on a Community Development scheme in 2008

4. Origins of the POP partnership • A partnership approach between tenants, BCHF, the city council (various departments) and the Police • Instigated by tenants who wanted their new estate to remain well looked after • Started as a Walkabout but grew into a litter pick with partnership meetings to report issues • Street Rep scheme developed to support the project and give tenants a higher profile role to take greater leadership for their own streets and the project • Chaired and serviced by BCHF but format of meetings is about tenants being in control, able to challenge all areas of service confidently and face-to-face

5. Partnership in Action

6. Mission: to make Upper Horfield among the Cleanest, Safest and Greenest neighbourhoods in Bristol and the first area in the South West to achieve a Quality Mark award • Aims of the Pride of Place (POP) partnership: • Clean and well-maintained streets providing a safe environment for children and adults alike • Strong relationships between residents and neighbourhood service providers working together to resolve clean, safe and green issues swiftly • Attractive and well-managed green spaces providing amenity value for local residents • High quality, well equipped and maintained parks and play spaces for children and young people • A well designed local environment contributing to a sense of safety for all residents

7. To achieve these aims we work together to: • Carry out monthly litter picks and walkabouts • Hold monthly meetings between residents and partners • Visit households where recycling is low to advise • Feed stubborn issues to Neighbourhood Partnership • Ensure Street Reps are provided with information on how to report issues and advise neighbours • Identify issues and develop action plans together to get them solved • Carry out visits to other areas to learn about good practice • Support new projects e.g. community garden • Expand the partnership into our other neigbourhoods

8. How the Quality Mark has benefited this work • Quality Mark has provided the area and partners involved with a lot of positive media coverage • Achieving a Quality Mark has helped to increase residents’ confidence and helped the partnership to gain influence locally • Working together on the Quality Mark process helped to forge strong relationships between partners and residents • Quality mark was a useful hook to encourage other partners to become involved in local action e.g. the local high school

9. POP and the NAP provides a focus for everyone to engage in CSG projects Graffiti project in ABC Park and logo for 20mph Welcome Signs into estate

10. The Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP) • The NAP ensures all agencies/residents input and agree CSG priorities for the neighbourhood • Neighbourhood Action Plan helps to identify stubborn areas where additional work is needed and has helped to secure funding for projects • A number of spin-off youth projects have been funded such as a Graffiti project and a film about community safety: www.youtube.com/horfield200 • POP now maintains a NAP as part of its core work and refreshes it each year with partners

11. What our NAP revealed

12. Clean • Extensive dog fouling at certain locations • Increase rates of recycling of plastic • General litter and low rates of recycling in certain streets • Improve the standard of black box emptying so non-recyclable contents are not emptied onto street. • Bins left out on street around the area • Increase number of volunteers participating in POP • Promote success of the POP initiative to local residents and other communities • General litter accumulation on area’s streets.

13. Safe • Encourage Street Reps to attend NeighbourhoodForum meetings in their beat area. • Promote NeighbourhoodWatch to Street Reps. • Ensure road safety is monitored and issues resolved. • Carry out major improvements to Poets Park to ensure a safe and enjoyable space for everyone. • Publicise the Hate Crime reporting service at BCHF. • Lighting in Emerson Square park reported to be insufficient. • Hazel Grove/ Montreal Avenue – insufficient street lighting • Ensure residents are aware of their local Police beat team and how to contact them.

14. Poets Park • Poets Park is an area that has suffered long-standing issues of Anti-Social Behaviour including drinking • BCHF and Police worked together to apply for the area to be a Dispersal Zone • Reduction in ASB from Dispersal Zone and other physical changes helped us to identify what long-term changes should be made • Permanent No-Drinking Zone applied for by Police with support from POP group (residents and agencies) • Summer Play Activity delivered in 2009 and 2010 to re-engage local people and children in the space • Park now ready for a major makeover this year (starting on April 1st) launch date in July

15. Green • Maintenance and upkeep of the planted verges. • Weeds growing on streets/pavements. • Tidiness of front gardens. • Improve access to space for growing vegetables and learning about gardening. • Community Gardening project set up to grow and plants and veg at ground behind community centre. • 30 raised beds all tenanted including 6 with crops grown for sale in community shop • Polytunnel for rearing of seedlings and plug plants sold in community shop • www.uhcgc.wordpress.com

16. Estate Design • Two larger projects were identified in the Quality Mark process: • Bronte Walk residents wanted to get more greenery and a safe place for small children to play • Green Close residents wanted the conflict between cars and young people sorted out • Door-to-door visits were conducted and whole street consultation events were developed to ensure all residents could have their say and give their ideas.

17. Summary of POP’s achievements to date • New plastic bottle recycling bank in the neighbourhood • Street Reps trained as Waste Doctors by BCC • Six new street litter bins installed • Three partnership Days of Action on CSG delivered • Redevelopment of Poets Park now secured • 36 Street Reps recruited in Upper Horfield • Walkabouts/Litter Picks held every month since Oct 08 • Front garden and sunflower competition held each year • Gardening project created and sustained • In 2011 our scheme was expanded into two other neighourhoods: Southmead and Broad Quay (Block) • Links developed with the local Neighbourhood Partnership to escalate stubborn issues

18. Being Clean, Safe and Green (and yellow)! Three days of CSG Action

19. Involving Residents: what works for us? • The Monthly POP meetings remain popular – key service providers attend and respond/update on issues raised • Making sure meetings are not dominated by service providers and residents feel comfortable to challenge • Bigger organised events such as Big Tidy Ups – done in partnership with Police, Waste Services and Safer Bristol • Highly visible Walkabouts with Housing Officers and Waste Office ensures individual household issues are dealt with e.g. tenancy conditions and Fixed Penalty Notices • Work hard to maintain regular contact with all Street Reps with monthly bulletins and opportunities to participate • Keep residents at the centre of the process: • Nothing about them without them!

20. Some lessons learned about partnership working • Balance needs to be struck between managerial approach and democracy in order for the partnership to be transformatory – the difference between top down and bottom up • We don’t have the answers – but we can ask good questions – Socrates • As the state retreats from the regulatory approach we need to provide the space for more community empowerment • Don’t start to large – leave room for residents to add the detail and amend, learn as you go

21. A co-production project? • Co-production is a new vision for public services which offers a better way to respond to the challenges we face - based on recognising the resources that citizens already have, and delivering services with rather than for service users, their families and their neighbours. Early evidence suggests that this is an effective way to deliver better outcomes, often for less money. • When you involve the experts i.e. those who experience the service, and build relationships with them, you increase your service’s reach and ability to deliver. • This is what the POP partnership has done.

22. And not forgetting – the Quality Mark Award! Awarded to Upper Horfield in March 2010 at Performer level by Keep Britain Tidy and John Healey MP (Housing Minister)

23. To get in touch, contact: 400 Filton Avenue Horfield BRISTOL BS7 0LJ Scott Jacobs-Lange Neighbourhood and Communities Manager Tel: 0117 9319776 email: prideofplace@bchf.co.uk Website: www.bchf.co.uk Facebook: www.tinyurl.com/prideofplace

24. Useful Links Co-production: www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Co-production_1.pdf http://coproductionnetwork.com www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/public_services_lab/coproduction