living street putting people first

Living Streets has been working with the community in Benarty since November 2008, successfully supporting its aim to make the village a safer place for pedestrians. As a result, the community has been invited to share its success at both a regional and national level with local authority practitioners.

Benarty, in Western Fife, consists of four former mining villages, Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill and Glencraig. Parts of these communities are within the top 5% most deprived areas in Scotland. Residents have poorer health than the Scottish national average and a higher proportion suffer from a long term limiting illness. Increasing walking levels and enabling local residents to get changes made to improve their streets was seen as an important step in improving the long term health and wellbeing of the community.

Following a meeting with Living Streets, the Benarty Community Forum decided that the best way to identify issues was to use a Living Streets Community Street Audit. The audit was promoted throughout the community and invited local residents to review the area to identify recommendations to make the streets more walkable.

Priorities: Residents on the community street audit made the following issues a local priority:

• Reducing high traffic speeds along the main route in the area
• Reducing the number of cars parked in a way that was problematic for pedestrians
• Reducing congestion outside the two local primary schools during drop-off and pick-up times.

The group enlisted the help of local councillor Willie Clarke and invited two representatives from the council’s road and traffic management department to respond to their concerns.

Local resident of Ballingry and activist Tam Smith raised the profile of the priorities by presenting the Forum’s recommendations to the Regional Area Committee. The Committee oversees all major decisions the council makes within the area and showcases the benefits of empowering local residents to make decisions and identify priorities for their local areas.

With the support of Living Streets and key local partners, the group held a community event called ‘Reclaim Your Streets’ in October 2009 which brought together 30 local residents to talk about ways to make the local area better for walking in.

Achievements and improvements to the area include:

• After speed surveys and monitoring, new speed cameras, signs and road markings were put in place to slow down traffic
• Contribution to two local Primary School Travel Plans, and implementation of a Park and Walk Scheme at St Kenneth’s Primary School
• Articles in Central Fife Times to raise awareness of the issues and achievements as well as advertise events and activities.

As a result of the success, the approach is being rolled out with other community groups in Fife, such as Lochore Residents Association, CLEAR (Community-Led Environmental Action for Regeneration) in Buckhaven and Denbeath and Abbeyview Regeneration Forum.

• Walking maps were created that are easy to use and have routes that suit different levels of ability and need. 
• The Benarty Community Forum developed experience, empowerment skills, contacts and a reputation that in the future will provide more opportunities for change.

Fife Council’s Head of Housing and Neighbourhood Services invited Tam and Living Streets to a regional Neighbourhood Management Team meeting to talk about how they worked together. They presented advice on how to use activities in Living Streets community empowerment toolkit Reclaim Your Streets.

The Forum went on to present their case study at the 2010 National Active Travel Conference – telling others of the benefits of using a community-led approach to creating safe, attractive and enjoyable streets.

Speaking from experience:

• Get well-connected or high profile people to champion your ideas. Councillor Willie Clarke opened up lines of communication between the community and the local authority
• Speed surveys and speed signs are quick wins which can keep the momentum going and raise awareness with the wider community.
• Involving agencies working with young people in the early planning stages of the event, might have led to a more appealing range of activities for young people and a better turnout. 
• Accessible walking map: local people can relate to as they can carry them in their pocket and use when it suits them.
• The support of a national charity like Living Streets along with the local knowledge of residents enabled the transport department to implement measures which might have not happened as quickly otherwise.