Lozells in North West Birmingham: centred around the Lozells Road; known for the ethnic diversity of its community; still often associated with poverty, drugs and crime.  In October 2005, violent riots left two men dead and a police officer shot and wounded.  Since 2007, Lozells has also been the base for one of the 30 neighbourhood management projects led by Birmingham City Council.

Background

Tensions between the communities that share the neighbourhood make Lozells a challenging place in which to attempt to build unity about what needs to be done locally.  Underlying the divisions, poverty is widespread and shared:  Lozells figures in the most deprived 3% of neighbourhoods in England.  The effects of crime and environmental issues are shared by all communities (see Birmingham City Council data on Lozells and East Handsworth ward).

On the other hand, Lozells forms a ‘natural’ neighbourhood with boundaries that make sense to residents; a strong sense of local identity; and a grievance shared by many residents that the neighbourhood seems routinely dismissed in terms only of the negative side of local life.  Active and diverse local community groups matched in determination local service providers – in particular the police – to improve the outcomes of their work in the neighbourhood.

Kate Foley of Birmingham City Council talks about neighbourhood management in Lozells

Conversation and Concerted Response

Rather than focusing on service-related issues or ‘themes’ – like environment, employment or crime – in isolation, neighbourhood management in Lozells attempted to establish a shared picture of these same problems from the perspective of place.  A neighbourhood conference was held with local people and local service providers. Local people mapped ‘hot spots’: locations around which multiple issues were focused.  These formed the basis for joint work by service providers.

For example: around Villa Road and the neighbouring Radnor Road and Hamstead Road areas, drug dealing and prostitution were associated with other problems.  The police and local authority took concerted action to focus on the area: injunctions were served against known street drug dealers; improved street lighting, CCTV and ‘hidden corners’, such as phone boxes and a public toilet, were tackled so that drug dealing activities could no longer take place in those locations. Midland Heart led work on alley-gating and improvements to doorways.  Environmental issues were also dealt with targeted through enforcement action; Fleet and Waste Management reviewed beat sweeper rotas and bins collections.

Neighbourhood Board and Plan

Success in organising joint action between service providers helped to build confidence between them and led to better communication between front line staff from different services.  As residents started to feel the difference, the basis for increased community involvement started to be built.  The Neighbourhood Manager worked to help agencies collaborate and to involve local residents through, for example, joint walkabouts and local partnership meeting.  The first Neighbourhood Management Plan was written in 2007 and a local Neighbourhood Management Board, chaired by a Councillor, was in place.

Councillor Mahmood Hussain talks about changes in Lozells

The Neighbourhood Board formed a platform from which to advocate the case for investment in Lozells beyond the neighbourhood.  Urban Living – the local housing market renewal initiative – was a key partner.  The City Council’s CommUNITY process helped to engage partners at the highest level.


Saidul Haque of Lozells Neighbourhood Forum talks about community development in the neighbourhood

Community Cohesion and Resident Involvement

Given the background and history of the area, inclusivity and a concern for cohesion between communities were high priorities in building resident participation.  A shared approach based on building pride in the locality was adopted.   Residents felt the area was unfairly stigmatised and that opportunities needed to be taken to challenge preconceptions about it.  Neighbourhood management succeeded in creating opportunities for ongoing conversation between local people through a range of events including a Lozells Community Awards event held in October 2008.

Neighbourhood management enabled investment in the capacity of the local Neighbourhood Forums and also to engage on a regular basis with groups such as the local Parents Forum at the Children’s Centre. A system of regular Community Meetings was established with meetings generally attracting 40 – 50 people and covering a range of local issues and concerns.

Alongside the meetings and newsletters organised by the Neighbourhood Forums, a neighbourhood blog has been set up. Life in Lozells provides space for people to advertise local events and to debate issues of local concern and interest. Traffic to site has steadily increased and interest has also been stimulated through the holding of a series of local Social Media Surgeries.

What Has Been Achieved

Quality of life in the Lozells neighbourhood has improved during the neighbourhood management initiative.  For example:

  • Crime has sharply reduced – from 1,018 recorded crimes in 2005 with 838 in 2006 (the year before Neighbourhood Management started) down to 766 in 2007, 633 in the full year of 2008 and expected to be about 650 in 2009.
  • Improvements in street cleanliness have been significant and sustained. In November 2006 40% of sites in the neighbourhood were judged to be unsatisfactory in terms of litter and detritus. By June 2009 that had fallen to 14% of sites unsatisfactory in terms of litter and by December of that year 9% of sites were unsatisfactory for litter and 0% unsatisfactory for detritus.

Conclusion

Neighbourhood management in Lozells acts as a reminder that investing in community  capacity  needs to be done with reference to the effect on community cohesion: it is no good seeking to work, or being seen to work, with some sections of the neighbourhood community and not others.  Likewise, tackling entrenched and complex issues in neighbourhoods depends on effective co-production between service providers and this can be assisted by adopting a place-based (rather than theme or issue-based) focus and by the work of a Neighbourhood Manager.  Successful investment in the community  also depends on the success of collaboration between agencies to produce re-assuring change in targeted areas.  It may be more effective to make a breakthrough in small ‘hotspot’ areas within neighbourhoods than to make generalised statistical improvements in service outputs across a wider area.

FURTHER INFORMATION AND BACKGROUND