ITEM NO 8

Swinton Love Your Neighbourhood Week

16th – 21st February 2009

Evaluation Report

Swinton Community Committee – April 2009

Love your Neighbourhood Week took place in the week of 16th – 21st February 2009. The Swinton Neighbourhood Management Team rented a vacant unit on Swinton Precinct in order to provide a venue for partner agencies and voluntary sector groups to promote the work they are doing in the area and to engage with a wide range of local residents.

Aims of the week were:

For residents to meet agencies and councillors working in their area

To obtain feedback from residents and find out about issues of concern

To enable people to have their say about things that affect them in their community

To promote ways people can get involved in local decision making

To bring together Swinton residents and promote Community Cohesion.

To promote local community groups

Promotion and marketing

The week was promoted in the local press, including Salford Community Radio, posters in local community venues and large banners on display on the shopping precinct.

Participants

A number of agencies and groups provided displays and conducted interactive consultation with members of the public.

Throughout the week the following organisations were represented:

Swinton Neighbourhood Management Team

GMP

Citywest Housing Trust

Swinton Health Improvement Team

Swinton Moorside and Mossfield Childrens Centre

Salford Community Leisure

Connexions

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service

Salford Youth Service

Anti-Social Behaviour Team

Furnished Homes

Swinton Families

Environmental Services

Swinton Open Spaces Community Organisation

In order to attract members of the public into the shop, a balloon modeller, face painter and magician was present throughout most of the week. As it was half term week, this attracted a number of parents and their children into the shop. A free prize draw was also held daily, with prizes donated by local businesses.

Community Artist

A community artist was present throughout the Love your Neighbourhood Week. They were given the brief of creating a piece of art that would bring people together and be representative of the Swinton community. The finished piece of work was a large banner collage, depicting a Swinton street scene and containing representations of local buildings, shops, facilities and people.

Consultation

In addition to consultation carried out by each agency, the Swinton Neighbourhood co-orinated a wide ranging consultation in order to find out the issues that mattered most to Swinton residents. This included questions on large display boards, to which people were asked to write responses on post-it notes. This information will be fed into the Community Action Plan where possible and reported back to the LPDG and Community Committee.

The results of the consultation can be found in Appendix 1.

Enquiry forms

Enquiry forms were made available for people to write down any issues or concerns they had. 59 enquiry forms were received and each enquiry was followed up by the Neighbourhood Team and sent to the relevant agency for action. Where possible, each enquirer was contacted by telephone in the weeks following the event.

The enquiries received fell into the broad categories listed below:

Issue	Number of enquiries
Town Centre	9
Street Cleansing/Dog fouling	6
Highways	20
Waste/Recycling Collections	5
Housing	9
Anti-Social Behaviour	2
Parks and open spaces	3
Youth provision	3
Other	2

Agency Feedback

Agencies and groups who took part in the Love Your Neighbourhood week generally felt that the event was successful and worthwhile. A number however felt that the venue was inadequate; it was seen as being too small meaning that stalls were cramped. They also felt that the week was not promoted as widely as it could have been.

Next steps….

Consultation information will be fed into the Community Action Plan. An amended version of the CAP will be presented to Community Committee in June 2009.

The Neighbourhood Management Team is in regular contact with the Town Centre Manager and there is likely to be a follow up event on the precinct in the Summer.

The Banner created during the event will be on display in Swinton Library from May 2009.

Appendix 1

Results

Approximately 360 adults came into the unit over the course of the week, many bringing with them children and young people who participated in the activities on offer.

Results from consultation around pledges:

Reducing Crime in Salford

1.	“To what extent do you feel that ASB is a problem in your neighbourhood”

Quite happy, no ASB issues in Wardley	Friday night – Deans Road, Everton Street drinking and ASB
Problems with neighbours	Dorning Road – gangs with scramble bikes all weekend
Bullies on streets and gangs	Shelly Road – off road bikes on Beechfarm
Patrols around the bungalows on Station Road around the back, stop youths using it as a place to drink and unwind	Youths causing annoyance – damage to fencing at Napier Street

2.	“How safe do you feel when out in your neighbourhood”

Feel safe within the area – see Police patrol regularly	Get the Police out of cars and back on the streets
Tree’s cut down to the back of Napier Street; properties are now vulnerable	More Police on the beat instead of flashing past in cars
More Policing on streets

Encouraging learning, leisure and living in Salford

1.	What do you think of your local library?

Very kind and helpful staff	Very friendly and welcoming. Need lots of new books though and more activities
Have more courses for older people	Its nice, people are friendly
More computers in the library	The galleries are lovely especially when local displays are on
More help for people to continue their learning ie; free courses More learning centres around Dorning Road & Princess Street	Computer teaching department etc

2.	What kinds of community events would you like to see in Swinton

Christmas markets and flower markets	Not had a Whit Week procession because the Council won’t close the road & cost of Policing
Summer skating rink	Summer Fair
Inclusive facilities for all	Whit Walks – food at school after

3.	What do you think of leisure facilities in Swinton

Sad to see Lancastrian Hall go and places for dancing	Swinton/Monton – Folly Lane area needs a park for children
Wider variety of sports for boys, 8 – 16eg; football, rugby, basketball	To expensive
Not enough places for teenagers to go	Not enough mainstream leisure facilities to enable disabled people to join in ie; support
More lights on Cromwell Road leading to the recreation centre	Excellent
Lots going on in the leisure centres although price sometimes is a factor as if you can afford to keep fit healthy

Not sure if proposed school in is the right location

Creating prosperity in Salford

As we face the current recession, how can the Council support people in Swinton who may be facing redundancy?

Create jobs in the area	Listen to people
Provide free parking for traders	Teach parents how to handle money
Stop charging for market stalls	Reduce the cost of market stalls –its £18 per day which is a lot given the low population on Swinton precinct

How can we help people in Swinton raise their aspirations and get back into education, training and employment

More free training to re-skill	Volunteering
Make sure Government allocate money for education in College for learning disabled students	Make it worthwhile, sometimes better off on benefits
Have small fun activities for children, this might increase the number of adults who come onto the precinct during holidays.	Make it harder to claim benefits
Have a job shop/job centre in Swinton

Swinton Town Centre

Swinton Shopping Centre – worried about shops closing, need a good food shop	The shopping centre is dying
Reduce the cost of parking or have day passes for all areas of Swinton	Closing post offices
Should refund parking fees when a purchase made from precinct (like Morrisons)	Not much on the market – is the rent too high? Too many £ shops
Can special parking prices be made available for shop assistants working on Swinton precinct	Parking charges at Swinton shopping centre have had a bad impact on Shopping Centre
Have themed events on the precinct ie; Easter stalls, Christmas stalls	Precinct is going down, depressing. Need more flowers; used to be a meeting

Investing in Young People

What are the issues facing young people in Swinton?

Fewer jobs around	Not enough for young people in the area
Need more youth clubs and more activities	Not much to do, no places to go, no cinema
Young people drinking

What activities would you like to see for young people in Swinton?

Would like more activities at The Deans	Volunteering opportunities – Ambrose Barlow
Roller rink	Climbing wall
I think that there should be more things going on in Swinton for parents with children	Need youth clubs, soda bars places for the young to be socialising
I like ice skating	Summer fair and ice rink
More activities at the recreation centre	Climbing walls
Ice skating	Basket ball
Football for girls	Dancing
Football	Ice skating
More youth clubs	Something exciting to do, cheap and easy access
Clifton Youth Club very good, lots to do for young people	Youth Centre close to Swinton Town Centre
Outdoor activities	Do more stuff with regular kids who aren’t in trouble
Free transport out of Swinton	Ice rink, cheaper and bigger
Roller rink that’s cheap	Stuff at Vicky Park
Reward good children also	Don’t just reward bad kids or kids who act up because they think its cool
Blackleach – walk me Grandad’s dog’s	More activities for teenagers; clubs etc

Enhancing Life in Salford

Tell us what you think about the level of street cleanlisness/fly-tipping/graffiti in Swinton?

Absolutely appalling. A total disgrace	Gordon Road, litter left near bottom of Clovelly
Poor street cleansing, alley gating of Napier Street	Dog fouling at Wardley
Sefton Road – people with dog foulers, the pavement, field and school	When bin men drop things when emptying the bins, they are in such a rush they leave them there
Back streets off Manchester Road are dirty The area has done down hill in the last few years	Swinton has got worse in the last 3 years Vicarage Road car park litter

Tell us what you think about the part facilities in Swinton ie; Victoria Park, Clifton Country Park

Need more lights at Victoria Park	They are nice parks could both do with more lighting but parks are so far apart and not enough parks in Swinton
Should be able to take dogs off lead in Victoria Park	Parks are good, need more
Better lights in Victoria Park x 7	Children’s wild play
More bins	Dog park in Victoria Park and lighting in the park and car park
Have more lights on Victoria Park, full time permanent staff, wild play for youths	Brighter lights on Victoria Park and full time staff
Better lights and teenage provision on Victoria Park	Create better lighting in Victoria Park so families and kids can enjoy it during the Winter
Lighting very poor on Victoria Park, scare of going in it after dark	Have a dog park in Victoria Park x 2

What do you think about the quality of the open spaces in Swinton?

South Avenue playing fields are good when not being used by cars/bikes	Fencing off would be good.
Fencing on South Avenue to stop off road bikes getting on fields

Highways Issues

I don’t agree with traffic calming on Cemetary Road	Traffic on Mossbank Road
Speeding outside St Marks at Queensway	Milner St road surface a disgrace needs a complete overhaul, its like a patchwork quilt
Better car parking at Community Centres	Need parking area for St Mark’s primary to stop people parking outside school
Road safety on Dorchester Road, no crossing	Road safety on Queensmere outside St Marks; parents park outside school and speed

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Improving Health

What do you think are the three key life style related health issues for Swinton?

Smoking/drinking ignorance	Exercise
Smoking	Drinking
Young people drinking alcohol	Children are unfit
Drugs, alcohol and fags	Health Service good
Waiting 2 ½ months for a podiatry appointment at NHS Clinic

How would you improve the health of local residents?

Swimming baths	Leisure centres
Education	Open spaces
Stop dog muck on fields	More safe areas for children to play

Do you think Swinton residents are healthy?

Some people want everything on their door step – even exercise so if its closed they will have to travel – No	Yes if they can be bothered

Promoting Inclusion

What do you think we can do to make sure Swinton is a place where people get on well together

Officer network events to discuss the area and issues	Having more people aware of local history group
Ensure Cllrs really understand the issues and communities they represent	Make Cllrs more accountable to the communities they should serve

How could we help to make local people feel proud about their community?

Local parks, more facilities, better lighting	Housing is wrong for children’s hospital site – should be something for the community
People don’t know each other anymore	Start more Friends Groups
I feel welcomed, everyone friendly, lived in Walkden for 4 years and didn’t even know my neighbours	Parents more responsibility
Like living in Deans – always lived in Swinton	No community spirit
Clifton is a nice place to live	I like Swinton, I have nice friends, I am glad I’ve moved to Swinton – Juliette aged 6