Community consultation award: Winner broadway malyan

Broadway Malyan was brought in by its client, New East Manchester, to help those residents who were to be affected by regeneration in the Toxteth Street area to understand what was proposed, and how they could influence it. The firm went about its work in highly imaginative ways, including the use of televisions, video, games, workshops and training modules. The most popular session took the form of a “development game” evening, which used a board game to illustrate the development process, its timescale and its pitfalls. The judges liked the quality and depth of this submission, and concluded that Broadway Malyan had given a lot of careful thought to setting out the consultation process and had succeeded in engaging people in the right way.

RUNNERS-UP

Berkeley Homes

Berkeley has taken a task and shown its competitors exactly how it should be done. The community consultation process at its Royal Arsenal development in Woolwich, south-east London, began before any plans were submitted, and what Berkeley learned in that consultation led to changes in its masterplan – above all in broadening the mix of uses and prioritising some elements such as a 10-screen cinema and restaurants. The judges were suitably impressed.

Keegans

This regeneration specialist was given the job of project managing the “group repair” of a council estate belonging to Haringey council in north London. Part of that brief included explaining exactly what group repair was to those residents affected by it. This Keegans did in an admirable pamphlet organised into chapters with titles such as “What’s the catch?”, and “Who do I speak to if something goes wrong?” The judges thought this demonstrated Keegan’s “genuine engagement with residents”.

Keepmoat

Keepmoat’s Frank Haslam Milan subsidiary does not pull its punches. After it was given the job of delivering a £14-16m programme of improvements to tenants of an Arm’s Length Management Organisation in Solihull, it decided to make a DVD that explained to tenants in graphic detail just how disruptive it is to replace a kitchen and a bathroom – as well as the eventual benefits. The results were then measured with a brief questionnaire.

United house

One of United House’s key clients is Southwark council in south London, with a £100m housing budget. The two agreed that one way of making this spending more effective would be to get the residents to help steer the projects that affected them. So United set up a series of forums, including a fun-run day, to meet the residents and discover what their expectations were. This was followed by more formal meetings in which the tenants had a real say in what was done. The result, in the words of one participant, is that both sides now work in genuine partnership.

Wrekin housing trust

Wrekin was set up to manage and improve houses transferred from Telford and Wrekin council in 1999. In 2002, a survey showed tenant dissatisfaction with its service and their opportunity to influence it. WHT responded by taking over a shop to provide an easy forum for talking to tenants. It then began a programme of meetings with tenants, opened a website and got out and met people. Three years later there’s a thriving tenant group – and a satisfaction score of 86%.