Organisation: Bromford Group
Neighbourhood assessed: Wychall Farm
Background
Wychall Farm estate is situated in Kings Norton, South West Birmingham and has undergone substantial regeneration with over 170 new homes completed and a further 248 to be developed. Historically the area has suffered from problems of social deprivation, high unemployment and poor infrastructure with a longstanding reputation of a ‘no go’ area.
Methodology
The Bromford Group agreed to participate in a pilot for the Keep Britain Tidy Cleaner Greener Safer Neighbourhood Quality Mark in February 2008 and applied to be assessed against Level 3 – Exemplar.
The application workbook was initially desktop assessed; this enabled the assessors to verify whether the evidence provided against each of the required activities appeared to have been met and to prepare a site visit plan.
A one day site visit was carried out by the assessors on 12th March 2008 to validate the evidence provided and to assess whether all the Level 3 requirements had been met to an acceptable level. During the site visit a range of one-to-one interviews and discussion groups were carried out with team members, managers, residents, partner organisations, and frontline staff.
Strengths
- The assessors found strong evidence of good working relationships with residents and partner organisations, and an open culture where the views of relevant stakeholders were taken into account. This is supported by a visible Bromford presence in the neighbourhood.
- Bromford have helped residents to form the family club, which is a well-used resource, providing activities for younger people and a focus for the community. This has acted as a key resource in promoting positive behaviour and addressing community safety concerns.
- There is an excellent Junior Warden Scheme (10-15 yrs) run through the family club which is being used to raise the profile of the estate in other areas – they are proposing to extend the scheme and train more wardens in the 16 –19 year age group. The training is over an 18-week period and covers a range of initiatives.
- There are strong mechanisms in place for gaining residents views on Cleaner, Safer, Greener issues, eg B1 Magazine, regular customer service questionnaires and a recently introduced a ‘Rant Line’.
- Residents are proactive, feel their views are heard and where possible implemented, and are very clear in expressing how the neighbourhood has been improved since the development project started. A number expressed a renewed pride in the local area.
Areas for improvement
- Consideration is currently being given to negotiating a lettings agreement with the local authority. It is recommended that this is done in advance of significant numbers of further lettings in the neighbourhood.
- It was noted that the neighbourhood will shortly be losing NRF-funded community wardens.
- Bromford should work with residents to agree a service level agreement with the Council to clarify the scope of the service that they will receive following the end of these posts.
- During the walkabout the assessors noted some instances of gum litter, dog fouling, and graffiti, particularly on private signs.
- Further work with the police and other community safety partners to tackle the issue of Wychall Farm being on a boundary of operational responsibility areas. A number of people that we spoke to expressed that this represented a problem, as there was no single team for the whole neighbourhood.
- The active residents, partner organisations, and Bromford, should develop an action plan for integrating new residents into the neighbourhood, to avoid an ‘us and them’ split when new residents move into the area, who were not previous tenants at Wychall Farm.
Recommendation
After review of the submitted application workbook document, supporting evidence and the verification interviews held during the site visit, assessors recommend the applicant be recognised against Level 3 – Exemplar of the Cleaner Greener Safer Neighbourhood Quality Mark.