1 West Howe A Vision for Physical Regeneration Active by Design Creating places for healthy lives 2 West Howe : A Vision for physical regeneration Active by Design 3 Contents In memory of community ambassador Sue Johnson, 01 Introduction a committed spokesperson for this project who was passionate about helping others and bringing joy to their lives. West Howe: the context 1963 - 2015 02 03 Building the evidence base 04 Vision 05 Next steps APPENDIX - Community evaluation maps Active by Design 5 Executive summary Design Council was commissioned any proposed residential development to develop a Vision for West Howe’s is likely to be resisted, although other physical regeneration – to capitalise uses may be allowed. This restricts the on the estate’s existing physical construction of any new homes to the assets and to improve people’s health central ‘corridor’ of West Howe. and wellbeing, through a process of collaborating with and empowering To ensure that people would be at the community. The project has been the heart of the Vision, a community undertaken as part of Design Council’s engagement programme took place. Active by Design programme, which This involved joint evaluation of West helps organisations create places for Howe’s streets, green spaces and healthy lives. community buildings by residents, council officers, Councillors and Built in the 1950s, the West Howe stakeholders; the findings of this work estate is made up of semi-detached are presented on maps in this report. houses, terraced homes and blocks A Visioning Festival also took place, of flats, and is home to 10,000 people. to validate the evaluation findings and There is strong community support capture aspirations for transforming but educational attainment, levels of West Howe. employment and health outcomes are lower in West Howe than the Building on WHRP’s vision for West Bournemouth and England averages. Howe, and based on the evidence gathered through this project, a Vision The West Howe Regeneration has been developed in collaboration Partnership (WHRP) was established with the community, the Council and in 2012 to oversee transformation in stakeholders. A Vision statement has West Howe and support community been agreed and six regeneration development. principles have been identified, set out in this report. To translate the Vision There are two Local Nature Reserves into a set of deliverable projects, an adjoining the estate, each with highly Implementation Plan is now needed. valued heathland habitats and each Together, these individual projects will afforded significant protection by nature realise the Vision to transform West conservation designations. A 400m Howe, capitalise on its physical assets radius exclusion zone is in place around and improve the health and wellbeing of each Local Nature Reserve, in which its community. 6 West Howe : A Vision for physical regeneration Active by Design 7 St. James’ Park, Southampton 2014 Background to the project In May 2014, Design Council was commissioned to explore how the West Howe estate could be regenerated, with three main starting points for the work: • Capitalising on the estate’s existing physical assets • Improving people’s health and wellbeing • Collaborating with and empowering the community The work has been funded by Bournemouth Borough Council, Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, based 01 on a joint commitment to the project and the cross cutting benefits expected to be gained. The project has been enabled by the West Howe Regeneration Introduction Partnership Board. 8 West Howe : A Vision for physical regeneration Active by Design 9 Active by Design West Howe: a vision for community % 40% regeneration The project has been undertaken To help create active places, we 21 of long-term health This project has been founded on The evidence underpinning the Vision as part of Design Council’s Active examine existing environments and Children play outdoors conditions are caused collaboration and engagement. puts the Council in a strong position to by Design programme, which helps make proposals based on the following compared with 71% by inactivity* Council officers and Members with target potential funding sources, lead aspects of a healthy neighbourhood: organisations create places for healthy of their parents when Being physically inactive responsibilities for public health, the long-term process of transforming lives. This means buildings, streets, • Reasons to get out and about – they were children* significantly increases a person’s Police, housing, parks, transport, the area, and improve people’s health parks and neighbourhoods in which risk of developing coronary heart youth services, libraries, education creating opportunities for people to disease, colon cancer, breast and wellbeing in West Howe. physical activity is an integral part of get out to work, shop, rest, play and cancer, type 2 diabetes and and property have been involved and dementia. everyday life. Active by Design helps meet over 250 residents have contributed local authorities meet their public health A quarter of British their views and ideas. Wide-ranging – street design that adults now walk responsibilities and fulfill the obligations • Getting around for less than Each year, physical evidence has been gathered and bold encourages walking and cycling set out in the National Planning Policy minutes a day* inactivity costs the UK aspirations have been explored. This Framework: to use evidence to assess economy* has culminated in a Vision statement local health and wellbeing needs, and • Play, leisure and sport – The UK’s four Chief and six principles as set out in Section opportunities for fun and exercise Medical Officers to create healthy communities. recommend at least 150 4. A series of next steps has been close to home 9 minutes of exercise per week for identified to take the Vision forward adults, and at least 60 minutes per bn • Nature and nurture – to capitalise day for children. £20 summarised in Section 5. This is the estimated cost of health on the health benefits of contact with treatment, sickness absence, nature reduced productivity and premature The aim of this Vision is to set the deaths. direction for physical regeneration of • Homes that connect – creating West Howe that meet users’ needs, that good physical connections between enable people to lead more neighbourly places and active lives, and that are resilient to *Sources: societal and economic change. • A pleasant environment at a Playday (2007) human scale – so that it’s appealing Department of Health (2009) Journal of Epidemiol Community and comfortable to be outside Health (2007) By working with communities and Lancet (2012/2013) applying the principles of Active by Design, we aim to drive changes that generate the greatest benefits for people and their health. 10 West Howe : A Vision for physical regeneration Active by Design 11 Physical context West Howe was developed for housing by the council in the 1950s, on a former stopping place for travellers. The estate is mainly made up of semi-detached houses and terraces with clusters of flats. Since the 1980s many of the houses have been sold under ‘right to buy’; most of flats remain in council ownership. West Howe is adjacent to Turbary Common and Kinson Common Nature Reserves, both of which are highly valued landscapes – primarily due to the heathland habitat that makes up part of each site. Their nature conservation designations establish both Commons as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Ramsar sites, Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Local Nature Conservation sites. Turbary Common is also designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA). Local planning policies require any residential 02 development within 400 metres of these sites to be resisted due to likely negative impacts on the healthland. This suggests that any net additional housing would need to be West Howe : accommodated outside of the two 400m exclusion zones. The policies do not rule out other types of development within the context the 400m zones such as care homes or employment uses. 12 West Howe : A Vision for physical regeneration Active by Design 13 The flats in West Howe are generally Residents and people involved in In terms of education, the West Howe The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment surrounded by significant areas of the area report a strong sense of Strategic Assessment May 2012 (JSNA) 2010- 2015, by NHS open space. Some of this is used community and mutual support on the identifies that: Bournemouth and Poole, Borough for parking but much of it is grass area. The WHRP’s ‘West Howe • Educational attainment, across West of Poole and Bournemouth Borough land and of varying quality. Many Commitment’ suggests that there Howe, is poor at all stages and ages Council, shows the following differences of these green areas are unused, are over 50 voluntary groups on the compared with borough and national between Kinson South residents (in providing little opportunity for play, estate offering a diverse range of averages which West Howe lies) and the average gardening, sitting out or socialising. activities and support for people of all health statistics across Poole and This lack of purpose, coupled with the ages. Groups include a job club and • Over 4 out of 10 adults have no Bournemouth: configuration of the buildings, their provide opportunities for play, exercise, qualifications compared with the • They are 3-7 times more likely to be entrances and the pedestrian routes volunteering, meeting people, training Bournemouth average of 2.5 out of 10 heavy smokers to them, makes the areas around the and counselling. West Howe is one of the 20% most flats vulnerable to abuse. • They are more likely to have a BMI deprived areas in England. The estate over 30 suffers from higher than average levels North Bournemouth West Howe Clinic of mental and physical health problems.