 | | Neighbourhood managers can coordinate services and improve conditions in deprived areas, reports Katie Smith | Tackling the problems of deprived areas is not easy - but it is an essential focus for many councils. Rachael Linton is neighbourhood manager for the Greater Hollington pathfinder in Hastings, East Sussex. Greater Hollington comprises 5,500 properties housing 10,600 people.
Rachael sees neighbourhood management as the culmination of developments in central and local government over the last few years. "The government's strategy was a break with the past," she explains. "It's not about bringing more money in and parachuting in 'experts'. This is a change of ethos - there is a desire to seriously involve the community and to improve services in partnership with other agencies.
"There is a lot of money flowing into deprived areas through mainstream services that isn't being co-ordinated. The principle behind neighbourhood management is to look at how the different spending streams can complement each other for the good of the area." "One of the key problems is anti-social behaviour, especially among young people. In one estate, nearly 80% of residents are under 25 years old" The Greater Hollington area faces a wide range of problems, problems that will be familiar to many councillors. One-third of the area is open space, one-third industrial, and the remainder is housing. The mix of types of housing and land use means that the need to work with other agencies is greater here than in more homogenous areas. | | |
| | One of the key problems is anti-social behaviour, especially among young people. In one estate, nearly 80% of residents are under 25 years old. Greater Hollington is two miles from the town centre, has poor transport links and is therefore isolated from services, shops and leisure facilities. "Even the local paper does not deliver the free ads paper in Greater Hollington," says Rachael. "This exacerbates feelings of isolation and worthlessness, and the consequences are that the population feels devalued."
She is trying to get round this situation by delivering a magazine to each house in the area, and has a growing readership - 55% respond in one way or another to the initiatives featured in the magazine. "A good example is the article we featured to promote the use of our local allotments.
"Over 75% were not let and were badly overgrown, the area was going to ruin, and local residents thought it was a ploy by the council to sell the land to developers.
"Potential plot holders told us they were put off by the amount of initial work required to reclaim an allotment which had lain untended for a while. We decided to run an article in our magazine with a special offer _ help with turnover of soil and a reduced rent for the first year. Twelve local people came forward in the first six weeks, more than in the previous three years. Of course, the challenge will be to keep the new allotment holders interested and on board."
Rachael sees the role of a neighbourhood manager as a game of two halves. "One half is about building community capacity and leadership, and the other is about working with agencies to innovate and improve services."
It is also important, she feels, to make firm connections between the key mainstream services. "Although all the main agencies were involved in applying for the neighbourhood management pilot, there was a lack of understanding about what it would actually mean. Some agencies saw it as an opportunity to access another pot of money.
I had to convince them that it's not about bidding for more funding, but about working with partner agencies to change or add value to whatever they are doing in the area."
Rachael sees two major shifts in the attitudes of providers: 'Firstly, agencies are starting to get used to working together collectively to tackle neighbourhood issues; and secondly they are coming round to the idea of collecting and measuring more information at a local level to inform the way that services are delivered." "There is a lot of money flowing into
deprived areas through mainstream
services that is not being co-ordinated" The partnership has funded a dedicated police team of one sergeant and four officers based in the middle of the neighbourhood. In the past, officers have had the temptation to ignore a problem because the next day they would be in a different place. Now, as they are always 'on the spot', there is more willingness to deal with problems quickly.
It also recently secured £871,000 from the government's urban bus challenge fund. "We worked closely with the county council and Stagecoach to provide them with community views on priorities for local transportation. Our involvement proved that the pathfinder could provide useful community information and evidence needed to secure funding under highly competitive circumstances."
But there are barriers. The biggest, says Rachael, is resistance to change among the organisations that provide services. "They can be very difficult to turn around - occasionally it feels like wading through treacle."
Overall, she believes that mainstream services are "crucial" in determining quality of life and improving conditions in deprived areas. "To me, the important thing is co-ordinating those agencies to provide the services that people need and want in a manner they can easily access and understand." | | |
