Case Study - Making Camden Voices HeardCamden Council consulted the public as part of its mission to design out crime from the Inverness Street area. People were asked to fill in post-it notes that were left on market stalls and inside local business premises and regularly collected. Over 700 responses were received and fed into the development strategy.Inverness Street in Camden Town had a history of anti-social behaviour and crime due to its design, the operation of the market, and location within Camden Town. The area is defined as a crime hotspot under the ‘Safer Camden Strategy 2006–2008’. The Inverness Street post-it consultation exercise began in October 2004 after Liveability funding - a governmental initiative to improve towns and cities by tackling quality of life in terms of public open space - had been agreed six months earlier. The post-it note consultation was tested to ensure that it was easy, quick and understandable before going to print. The public was asked to fill in an A5 questionnaire on what they liked about Inverness Street and what they would like to see in the area. Post-it questionnaires were collected regularly by the market inspector. The scheme gained publicity through local journalists who covered all aspects of the consultation exercise. Community consultation has always been important in Camden, which has a Standing Consultation Board. The borough is very diverse so project coordinators use a wide range of consultation techniques for different projects. Exhibiting the resultsResults were fed into the ‘Planning for Real’ exercise a month after the consultation. A public display of consultation feedback was presented alongside design options that aimed to remedy the issues raised, especially around security and community safety, market layout and the relationship between uses and landscaping. In terms of the consultation exercise, the exhibition was in essence the review of the consultation that took into account the consultees’ suggestions for improvement.
Liveability fundingThis project was directly funded by the Liveability programme and no council funding was required.
The Projects Team, which implements public realm community safety schemes, led the consultation. This played a significant role in the design and development of the project. Planning, Environmental Health, Street Environment, Town Centre Management, Street Policy, Housing and Transport Engineering, Police and Communications were all involved in developing the initiative. The project was due to be completed at the end of February 2007 and a final review has been planned to establish whether aspirations have been met. Monitoring of the scheme in relation to community safety will be undertaken via the Camden Town Operational Group (CTOG), which meets monthly and is made up of all key stakeholders including community representatives. Communicating the messageThe target audience for the initiative included residents, the business community, market stallholders and the police. The Planning for Real exercise and follow-up exhibition was held locally to Inverness Street and took place on a Saturday to maximise attendance. The project was embraced by the Camden Town Strategic Group under the Community Safety Partnership remit. Tackling challengesThe market continued to operate during all the improvement works and consequently businesses were much more amenable to change. For example, the market needed to operate at full capacity over the Christmas period. Posters and banners were also erected to inform people of the works and a telephone hotline was provided. For more information, please contact Mary Davidson at mary.davidson@camden.gov.uk |
