Advisory group update September 2021 and date of next meeting

The first meeting of the advisory group took place online on Tuesday evening 28 September 2021 between 6pm and 7:30pm, hosted by Isla Jackson and Nick Wright from the consultant design team.  We’d like to thank the 19 residents from Waverley Park and surrounding streets who joined the meeting, and others who sent apologies and would like to be involved in the future. 

Residents joined from Dinmont Road, Frankfort Street, Midlothian Drive, Peveril Avenue, Ravenswood Drive, St Ronans Drive and Woodstock Avenue, with a contribution from a resident of Moss-side Road who couldn’t attend in person.

The aim of the advisory group is to help work out the next stages of consultation. Any local resident from Waverley Park or the surrounding area is welcome. You can find out more about the advisory group by following this link.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST MEETING?

Most of the meeting was given over to hearing people’s thoughts and suggestions about consultation and communications relating to the project.  In summary, the main points made by people in the meeting were:

1. Communications need to cover all households in Waverley Park and adjacent streets which might be affected, and should be accessible/inclusive and appropriately designed for the project and the community. Specific suggestions included a wider area for door-to-door leafleting, focus groups across different ages and streets, and face to face discussions.

2. More information about the project would help people understand it and make informed judgments - including about the previous project around 20 years ago which wasn’t implemented, the background and objectives of the current project, where the initiative and the money have come from, the roles of Sustrans and the City Council, the overall process and timeline, other initiatives happening in the area, and empirical data about traffic flows etc.

3. The bigger picture: Waverley Park is part of Shawlands, and changes in Waverley Park will impact on other parts of Shawlands - so the bigger picture is important, both to consult people in the wider area who might be affected by the project, and because action might be needed beyond Waverley Park itself. 

4. Design options: concern was expressed that the options in the most recent round of consultation seemed to jump to apparently radical solutions, without including simpler cheaper solutions like traffic calming.

At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that the consultant team would prepare some thoughts on how to go about future consultation, based on the points raised in the first meeting, for discussion at a second meeting.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING - ALL WELCOME

The next meeting has now been set for Monday 18 October between 6pm and 7:30pm on Zoom. Anybody who is interested is very welcome, whether or not you were able to come to the first meeting. 

If you would like to join the meeting, please contact Nick Wright on 07900 334110 or nick@nickwrightplanning.co.uk. (There's no need if you joined or expressed interest in the first meeting, we will send you Zoom joining details nearer the time.)