living street putting people first

Community street audits are a great way for community groups and residents to take a look at the state of current streets and how they could be better to encourage people to walk more. South City Strollers is one walking group that led a range of audits to identify new and interesting routes for their weekly walks, encourage others to join them on their strolls and tackle barriers on the routes.

Nearly 30 walkers turned out for the street audit along with key staff from the South Edinburgh Healthy Living Initiative. Three smaller groups were formed to take in different parts of a circular route which the walkers had identified for potential improvements. A vast array of notes and photographs were gathered and sorted by the group into a report which was sent to the local neighbourhood office. Some of the priorities included:

• General neglect at shopping areas on Gracemount Square and Southhouse Broadway (i.e. weeds on footways, rusting paintwork, empty spaces)
• Inconsiderate parking on the streets (e.g. on pavements and footways)
• Muddy verges next to footways which become slippy when wet
• Overhanging branches and snags and litter at the Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park
• Hazards such as missing drain covers and utility cabinet boxes as well as uneven surfaces and patchy pavements
• Lack of access on footways where road works taking place.

The walkers spoke directly with local council officers about the issues.  They repeated the route to look at what work had taken place and report any outstanding issues. Some improvements noted included:

• Southhouse Broadway was identified for Capital funding as part of the Neighbourhood Partnership Public Realm Improvements and work is now taking place to regenerate it
• Weeds have been removed from the shopping area at Gracemount Square
• The Park Ranger dealt with overhanging branches and snags as part of strimming schedule at the Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park
• Park Rangers patrolling the park on a weekly basis to pick up litter and clear away broken glass
• The Chief Constable of the local police station was informed of pavement parking in the area and requested to take appropriate action if parked cars where causing an obstruction or nuisance.
• Temporary road works are now complete and access issues have been addressed.  The company was reminded to ensure pedestrian access is clear and unrestricted in the future.Missing drain covers and utility cabinets have been replaced
• Muddy verges have been seeded.

Speaking from experience:

• The local leisure centre provided an ideal meeting place for the street audit, where the walkers were able to prepare and discuss their ideas
• By sending out invitations to the walkers and promoting the audit during weekly walks a lot of individuals turned out on the day of the audit.  To ensure everyone could take part and get their voices heard it was important to form smaller groups.  A ‘facilitator’ was selected from within each group to ensure everyone was safe and kept to the route
• Most walkers found the street audit approach easy to use and have audited other areas to come up with new routes for their weekly walks
• A Customer Services Officer from the council and Park Ranger have responded quickly to the walkers’ recommendations.  It will be important to maintain these links so ongoing problems can be reported and dealt with
• The group have tried to ensure their recommendations have been part of the wider plans of the area by taking part in consultations on the local Community Plan.