New Practice

Visions for Northolt

 

Visions for Northolt

Extensive engagement with local people to inform a vision for the future of a neighbourhood in west London

Visions for Northolt was a community engagement programme that acted as a community platform to inform the public of local engagement opportunities as well as gather visions and opinions to steer the future of Northolt from authentic voices of local people. The project was led by New Practice in collaboration with RESOLVE Collective. This initial programme ran from January - August 2021. The aim of this first phase of engagement was to develop a community-led vision for the future of Northolt to steer future investment and pave the way for ongoing community participation.

 
 
A group of people walking down a path in a park.
 
 

Over the course of the project, our interdisciplinary team worked alongside a number of local residents, organisations and key stakeholders with the aim of turning an array of local aspirations into a community-led vision statement and a series of proposals. Importantly, this was focussed on creating a robust process over a pre-defined outcome. This programme looked to celebrate existing positive activity in Northolt and recognise these activities as not only critical to the area’s current social, cultural, and economic value, but also as central to the success of any future engagement. 

 
 

Visions for Northolt encompasses a wide range of activities, and developing a recognisable graphic identity was vital to sharing the message of the project and advertising ways to take part. We worked with visual artist and designer Alaa Alsaraji to create a bold identity filled with imagery representative of local landmarks. Alaa joined engagement events, bringing her skills as a facilitator, and used conversations to help inform this creative outcome. 

A screenshot from the "Vision for Northolt" webpage.
 
 

Our approach dedicated time and resources toward understanding the various priorities of a number of communities, initiatives, and individuals within Northolt. Our approach avoided assumed solutions and focused on the values we followed three key principles which were informed by early investigations: 

  • Listen to and understand a range of local views and priorities

  • Co-design and co-create with local people

  • Support long-term, community-led resilience building

We used a diverse range of methods and techniques, both digital and physical, quantitative and qualitative, to engage around 300 residents that represented a mixed demographic.

 
 
Children writing on a blackboard in a park.
 
 

In late-2021, New Practice, supporting Maccreanor Lavington, were commissioned to deliver the next stage of work in the area, Thriving Northolt. This project was designed to take forward key development aspirations identified within the Vision for Northolt document, and work with the Council to provide detailed analysis and concepts.

An informative map.

The strength of this iterative approach to community engagement and development is central to the way New Practice approach community engagement - first working with local stakeholders and residents at a high-level, to understand their experiences, challenges and opinions on what contributes to the unique character of their neighbourhoods, shaping a co-designed vision, and then using this to develop further detail on key development opportunities. 

In the case of Thriving Northolt, the team were able to re-engage a comprehensive and diverse network of contacts, and identify key organisations who might be directly impacted by future development of hard and soft infrastructure and assets, and specifically engage them in decision-making around future investment. 

 
 
A group of people gathered around a marquee next to flats.
A group of people writing on a blackboard in a park.
 
 

New Practice’s work in Northolt continues through two recent additional commissions. 

The first is to deliver extensive community engagement to support the delivery of £7.2 million of funding received by London Borough of Ealing through the Department of Levelling-Up. This funding was received in part thanks to evidence developed through the initial Visions for Northolt engagement process, and will deliver significant infrastructural development over the next 3 years focussed on improvements to active travel. This additional work will make use of and further expand the contact list established throughout 18 months of work delivered in the area, ensuring positive participation in this rapid change. 

New Practice have also been appointed to develop a Public Art and Wayfinding Strategy for Northolt, setting out opportunities for permanent public art and events, developing on knowledge throughout our extensive engagement work delivered to date. This strategy will embed opportunities for local creative practitioners to develop a range of temporary and permanent placemaking interventions across Northolt, curated around carefully considered themes. 

 
 
People walking over a small wooden bridge over a stream in a green area.
People walking on a woodland path.