CSMP 5.a. How local community groups shape the place they live in

Town and parish (local) councils can be an integral part of vibrant communities, along with voluntary and other community sector organisations.

Placeshaping by local councils can apply at different scales:

• In Saxilby with Ingleby in Lincolnshire, the parish council receives some support from the district council for emptying bins and litter picking; and from the county council for amenity grass cutting

• The parish team is able to be more responsive and can remove fly-tipping quickly

• This helps it to meet it vision of being ‘an area that is attractive for people to live, work, and visit.’ 

• The county council also provides some funding for the parish council to operate a community library.

Majority of Residents' Associations (RAs) came into existence during 1920s-1930s. They were mainly focused on the generation of a community on greenfield sites*. 

Residents' Associations tend to be concerned with housing, community and environmental matters:

- Impotance on a local scale e.g. traffic speeds, on-road parking, footpath maintenance, community centre use

- Most active RAs are those where place is clearly identifiable due to distinctive character e.g. former village -> larger urban settlements like ...

• These places normally have a cluster of local shops and services, a few places of religious observance and open spaces 

The Holland Park RA had a meeting in 2018 to discuss safety in the neighbourhood, implementing new garden motion-sensor lights, CCTV and installing front gates, to avoid burgalaries and the losses from them. At the time of the meeting, bugalaries were 17, in the next month that decreased to 12. 

*land not previously built on and on which new developments are proposed or constructed. 

Heritage Associations (HAs) can actively aid placemaking when past distinguishable charateristics survive e.g. architecture.

HAs tend to be NGOs and come in a range of scales from national bodies, e.g. The National Trust, to local groups focused on the preservation of a particular building, stretch of land or transport means (canal, railway).

Their contribution to placemaking aids people, via both human and physical characteristics, to see and experience places as they were in the past -> even supporting tourism (£).

The role of the National Trust in Place Making North Kensington or Aberfan:

Carlyle's House - The Chelsea home of a Victorian literary couple 

https://www.kensingtonsociety.org/about/ 

Digital Placemaking (DP) uses social media to encourage public participation and collaboration in processes such as planning and decision making about land-use in local neighbourhoods. 

The Power of 10+ Concept: by Project for Public Spaces

• Places thrive when those who use them have 10+ reasons to be out and about that place - with no activity dominating but all layered together
• These might include a place to sit, playgrounds to enjoy, art to touch, music to hear, food to eat, history to experience, and people to meet
• It aims to evaluate and facilitate Placemaking at multiple city scales
• Social media is used to share these reasons from individuals
• These multiple ideas can be brought together, mapped and put in place to serve the needs of the community
• E.g. Melbounre, Australia or New York City and Bryant Park, NY

Helps bring the local community and local authorities working together