Known as "Beirut" in the mid-1990s because of its reputation for crime, the 1000-home estate has since dramatically improved its performance on health, education, energy efficiency and crime. It is, said Prescott, "a great example of creative and innovative thinking, which has made a real difference to people's quality of life".
So, here are 10 characteristics of a sustainable community, as seen in Falmouth:
1. It's lean and green
Sustainability is traditionally interpreted in environmental terms, and this was the starting point for the Falmouth Beacon project. In 1996, houses on the estate got an average SAP rating – the way the government scores the energy efficiency of homes – of 34.5 out of 100. Most homes on the estate scored in the 20s and 30s, some less than 10. "A cardboard box would score about zero, and these weren't much better," says Mike Owen, executive director of arm's-length management organisation Carrick Housing. "They were really cold and powered by coal fires."
On behalf of the local tenants' association, Carrick bid for £1.2m from the ODPM's Capital Challenge Fund, and topped it up with £1m from the housing revenue account.
Then, starting with the worst properties, the partnership installed central heating in 381 homes, plus loft and wall cavity insulation and double glazing in the rest. The work started in 1997 with a year-long survey of all the properties, and finished in 2000. Now, the average SAP rating on the estate has risen to 56 out of 100 – heat loss, damp and condensation have been reduced, which saved £186,000 on fuel bills in the first year alone.
2. Private homes have been regenerated
"A lot of the right-to-buy, private-let housing was worse than council stock, and that did have an impact on the estate. Pride in people's own homes had evaporated," says Owen.
Using the Capital Challenge Fund as well as the housing revenue account meant the Beacon partnership could also renovate the estate's private houses, so there were no longer pockets of poor housing outside the council's reach.
3. Money's been spent on external areas
Because some of the Beacon estate's houses did not have wall cavities, external cladding had to be applied to improve insulation. This made the estate, which was "tatty" in Owen words, look much smarter, and helped to persuade residents that their homes were worth looking after. "People began to take pride in their houses again," says Grenville Chappel, the partnership's project coordinator.
The partnership spent £30,000 on the areas around the houses, including security lighting, passcode entry systems for 80 sheltered flats and 30,000 flower bulbs that were planted at the entrance to the estate.
4. Residents are keen to do more
Improvements to the estate also gave the tenants' association more confidence and a taste for community action. "We reinvented ourselves. At first, we'd been energy-focused, but then we broadened it out," explains Chappel. He and his wife were among the seven residents who decided to set up the association in 1995. He gave up his job as a fridge engineer in 2000 to run the partnership. Today, Chappel and his assistant are the only paid members of staff.
In 2001, he completed an NVQ level 3 in fundraising: "Somebody's got to know the rules, what you can and can't do," he says.
When Carrick Primary Care Trust won the Department of Health's Nye Bevan award for health improvements in 1999, some of its £45,000 prize money paid for a new office for the partnership, with space for community activities. These include mother and toddler groups and a surgery where the Cornwall Action Team – "they're the employment service in plain clothes," says Chappel – gives job advice and loans to pay for clothes, equipment and travel, helping bridge the gap between welfare and work.
This newfound community spirit has also infected the surrounding area. The nearby Trescobeas estate joined the partnership in 2001 to spend £150,000 of European Union funding before 2005, taking the total number of homes in the partnership to 1600. "They were delighted to hitch on to us," says Carrick councillor Dr David Sterratt.
5. Agencies work together
One of the reasons the Beacon partnership has been so successful is that a variety of agencies are involved.
As well as the tenants' and residents' association, the council, the housing department, health visitors, the police, the local school and youth club are all represented.
According to Sterratt, this has led to something of a cultural change: "People in different services talk to each other now. It's easier to get things done when talking to people that you know on a personal basis."
6. Tenants are in charge
The tenants' association is still very much in the driving seat. There is always a majority of tenants on the partnership's board. Chappel says this is the secret of its success: "It's tenants doing it for tenants – that's very important."
When the council needed to commission the initial energy efficiency survey, it delegated control to the tenants' association. "This way, tenants are always at the heart of decisions," says Owen. "Money isn't easy to delegate to a body that isn't the council, but we delegated decisions and the council agreed them when it came back from the partnership."
Local residents have also put pressure on politicians. When the association saw a letter in the local paper from a young girl requesting a skateboard park, it created a sub-committee to champion the cause. It raised £47,500 for the project, organising rallies with thousands of local kids. "Tenant reps wrote to every single councillor during election year, basically saying 'don't forget who votes for you'," says Chappel. "It took nearly four years, and now we've got one of the best parks in the area. It's very popular."
7. Antisocial behaviour has plummeted
In the mid-1990s, the Beacon estate was blighted by pockets of drug abuse and crime. Since the partnership was set up, burglaries have fallen by 40%, car crime and assault are both down 60%, and child protection orders have dropped 80%.
The estate has shed its "Beirut" tag, thanks to the close involvement of local police. Sterratt says: "Before, people always felt a bit isolated. Now if there's a problem, police work with the council and team up with housing officers to sort it out. Things aren't allowed to develop so much," he says.
"Police are no longer the enemy – they're human beings who you know by their first names, not faceless people in uniform who turn up once every six months."
8. Everyone is healthier
Warmer, more comfortable homes, with central heating and showers, have led to cases of childhood asthma dropping by 80%. The estate's high number of post-natal depression cases were also tackled – one of the factors that prompted health visitors to take action in the first place. "There was a lot of post-natal depression, made worse because the houses were so cold," says Owen. "Now people are feeling better about the estate and themselves."
For the BURA award judges, these striking health improvements were a critical factor. "One of the issues when it comes to sustainable development is the link to how we feel about ourselves. How well we are often depends on where we live," says one judge. "Improving health is often key to improving quality of life overall.
"Kids can now go to school fitter, are much more likely to pass exams and are much better equipped to thrive in society than when it was a sink estate."
9. Children are doing better at school
Children on the estate certainly do seem to be thriving. In 1999, there was a 25% improvement in their performance in national tests for 11-year-olds. Though this jump has not been sustained, Richard Carter, headteacher at Beacon Community Junior School, expects to see steady improvement in the future.
Improving houses' energy efficiency means children are warmer and more comfortable at home. Fuel savings make families wealthier, putting children in a much better frame of mind to go to school.
Warmer houses allow them to do their homework away from the noisy living room.
Carter found himself at the first tenants' meeting two weeks after starting at the school in 1995. He has noticed a big difference in its 215 pupils, 60% of whom live on the estate. "Looking at the children, talking to their families, the basics of family life are so important.
"For a single mum with three kids, it's much easier for the kids to have a shower than a bath, so hygiene has improved. And we're seeing people with more wealth, whether as a result of the savings or of finding work."
10. People care about the community
The estate looks better.
It's safer, cleaner and residents are healthier, with a much better chance of getting an education and a job. All this has helped to create community spirit, something that had been lost from the estate.
"Whereas people didn't want to take council properties in this area because of its reputation – they'd take anywhere but here – now it's a priority. There is a market, and there probably wouldn't have been one before," says Carter. Council houses in the area are now sold for between £100,000 and £170,000.
The culmination of this is the residents' latest project: to get the Beacon on Falmouth's tourist trail – the estate has stunning, panoramic views of Cornwall. This ambition was another factor that impressed the BURA award judges. One says: "The whole place has become much more of a community, and there's a desire to put itself on the map. This belief in the place is really important in today's world."
On the estate, Chappel is in no doubt about the scale of the partnership's achievement. "When I was a kid, we used to be proud of our estate," he says. "In 1995, there wasn't any community spirit at all. That's all back now."
Source
Housing Today
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