Gypsy/Traveller sites - interim site design guide: supplementary material

3. Community Engagement Case Studies

3.1 South Lanarkshire Council

3.1.1 Project Background

South Lanarkshire Council currently operates two Gypsy/Traveller sites, one at Shawlands Crescent in Larkhall, and the other at Springbank Park in East Kilbride. Since 2019, a range of improvement works have taken place at both sites, delivering on investment priorities agreed with residents as part of the site specific masterplans to ensure the sites continue to exceed relevant accommodation standards and meet the cultural needs of the Gypsy/Traveller community.

South Lanarkshire’s sites are based on an ‘pitch and amenity model’, with residents providing their own sleeping accommodation. Utility connections, amenity units, hardstanding and communal space are provided by the council. Both sites were constructed over 30 years ago and met the design standards at that time, with consistently high demand and low turnover occurring since opening. Shawlands Crescent has eighteen pitches and Springbank Park has six pitches. Each site has their own dedicated Site Officer, who are supported by the Local Housing Management Teams.

There has been a long standing approach to engaging with residents on the sites, although discussions were often limited to delivery of services rather than opportunities to invest and improve as the sites continued to exceed the minimum site standards and residents’ satisfaction scores remained high. In 2019 however, these discussions led to agreement and recognition between the council and residents that their needs had changed over time, with families growing and their preference in the type of accommodation changing. This resulted in the development of a significant investment programme for the sites.

Dedicated ‘Site Masterplans’ for both Shawlands Crescent and Springbank Park were then created. These set out a wide range of improvement projects that had been requested by residents, alongside works required to be progressed by the council to ensure compliance with minimum site standards or fire safety guidance. The plans aimed to convey an open and honest approach with residents as to when projects were being taken forward, setting out how they were to be funded and what engagement opportunities residents would have to determine the final output throughout each project.

The masterplans were set out in phases, with priority or short term projects covered in phase one, longer term projects in phase two and wider ambitions set out in phase three. Each project also related to one of each of the following high level outcomes, which aligned with the council’s Local Housing Strategy (LHS):

• improving community engagement and empowerment
• reducing social isolation and tackling digital exclusion
• reducing fuel poverty and improving energy efficiency

Residents are regularly given the opportunity to update the plans as their needs and priorities change and communication on project progress, as well as the provision of general services, is tailored based on the preferences agreed with each site. This includes hosting regular on-site meetings, individual face-to-face discussions and the distribution of site specific newsletters.

3.1.2 Resident Engagement Process

• Understand how residents wish to engage
• Work with them to jointly agree priorities
• Be open and honest about what is achievable
• Maintain engagement throughout project delivery

3.1.3 Lessons Learned

The Masterplans have been delivered to date with all residents remaining on site. Despite its challenges, this has allowed them to continue to influence and contribute to project delivery. The process continues to be a learning experience, with the following areas of good practice identified by the council to date:

• be open and honest with what you are trying to achieve and why, including where plans have changed or when timescales have to be amended
• never say no to requests to discuss further - concurrent engagement throughout project delivery has been key to the South Lanarkshire’s success, enabling residents to keep up to date with progress but also have their say on the finishing touches
• be consistent with the council officers involved in the projects, ensuring residents know who is responsible for what and how they can contact them – a small project team works well in South Lanarkshire with trust being built between officers and residents
• familiarise external contractors working on the sites with Gypsy/Traveller culture and ensure residents have the opportunity to meet with them before the project commences
• give notice to any works scheduled to take place on the site, including who will be visiting the site and how long you anticipate they will be there

3.1.4 South Lanarkshire Resident Views

As part of the analysis of outcomes from the masterplan approach, ongoing consultation was undertaken with site residents to get their views on what worked for them and any issues they encountered.

The Scottish Government spoke to residents at Shawlands Crescent to find out about their views on community engagement regarding the project. A summary of their views is provided below:

• regular meetings between the residents, council staff and external contactors were really helpful in ensuring resident views were heard and helped to build trust - it was beneficial to hear information first hand
• there were mixed views on whether residents should have remained on-site while the work took place - some residents believed this was the best approach and would not have moved into mainstream accommodation on a temporary basis (although would have considered a move to another temporary site had one been available), while others felt that the level of disruption was too high and would have preferred to move off site while the work on their pitch was completed
• one benefit of residents remaining on site was that issues could be dealt with quickly - residents have been able to point out problems they have identified while the work is ongoing and the council has been responsive, making changes where necessary
• engagement has improved over time – the majority of residents felt that there was now a good relationship with the council, the council is not promising things it can’t deliver and is setting realistic goals
• there have been some hard discussions but issues are now resolved through honest conversations - residents did recognise that it is not always possible to please everyone and presenting options helped with decision making
• terminology is very important – need to make sure that everyone understands what is being discussed to avoid confusion
• while residents were supportive of the Masterplan approach they felt at times changes were not made because of resident priorities, the council needs to be clear about the reason for changes to the plan
• better information is sometimes required regarding work on individual pitches - it can be very frustrating to not be given start and end dates for work to take place and it was difficult to understand why this couldn’t be provided
• it is very important to ensure the safety of children on the site, adequate fencing is essential
• residents raised the issue of disturbance payments and felt these should be made available given the level of disruption
• the temporary facilities provided to residents while they are unable to access their amenity block should be the same for every resident

The council acknowledged the positive feedback received, whilst also recognising the spectrum of views obtained and aimed to ensure all issues were rectified as part of the continuous engagement process.

3.1.5 Outcomes to Date

Through the masterplan approach, the council has successfully delivered a range of investment projects across both sites in conjunction with residents. These have been funded through the council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA), with support from the GTAF and other external funding including from the Scottish Procurement Alliance. Key projects include:

• new community facility at Shawlands Crescent, designed and managed by the sites resident’s association with indoor and outdoor communal space, office, kitchen and accessible toilet facilities
• extensions of all pitches across both sites to accommodate minimum spacing requirements and provide residents with more space to increase their accommodation options
• conversion of four amenity units to provide increased internal living space and new larger kitchen and bathrooms
• upgrading of all amenity units including new roofs, windows, doors and cladding alongside provision of free to access Wi-Fi
• new play area at Shawlands Crescent installed, designed by children and young people on the site

Delivery of the final phase of the current masterplans continues, with ongoing engagement with residents to empower them to help make key decisions. Projects scheduled for delivery between 2025/26 and 2027/28 include a new play area and amenity units at Springbank Park, as well as the extension to the remaining amenity units at Shawlands Crescent.

South Lanarkshire Council is committed to continue working with residents of both Gypsy/Traveller sites, ensuring they continue to meet their needs whilst also understanding their culture and way of life.

3.2 Perth and Kinross Council

3.2.1 Project Background

The Double Dykes site in Perth was officially established in 1982 and provides 20 pitches on the west side of the Inveralmond industrial estate. The current accommodation provision is chalets consisting of three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a lounge.

Perth and Kinross Council applied to the GTAF to provide enhanced living accommodation for residents and help meet energy efficiency targets for homes.

The redeveloped site will provide new, larger chalets designed and built to Passivhaus principles which will surpass energy efficiency standards.

The aim of the project, in line with resident priorities, is to provide high quality, energy efficient homes which reduce energy costs and provide better internal living space including larger, double bedrooms.

3.2.2 Resident Engagement Process

the 4 key stages of the resident engagement process at Perth & Kinross - Stage 1: Discover, Stage 2: Define, Stage 3: Develop, Stage 4: Build

Source: ECD Architects Consultation Document

3.2.3 Lessons Learned:

• include residents from the start of the process, be open about what the project is aiming to achieve and any limitations
• provide residents with options and listen to their feedback
• provide clear engagement material that can be considered over time before residents have to make decisions
• provide key dates for decision making so residents have a cut off point for reviewing and making decisions
• make sure project staff are onsite on a regular basis so residents can ask questions
• provide regular updates and explain the reasons for delays
• consider different solutions depending on the issue e.g. mediation may be an option to resolve an area of disagreement where the council is finding it difficult to reach an acceptable solution to an issue
• make sure to consider practical issues e.g. think about how you are presenting measurements to residents – what would their preference be
• limit the time residents will spend decanted from their chalets as much as possible, don’t decant residents until absolutely necessary
• discuss decant options with residents as part of the consultation process for the project as a whole
• find and allocate decant accommodation and get agreements in place
• have one to one conversations with the residents about their pitch to safeguard any historical items that are important to them

3.2.4 Perth and Kinross Resident Views

The Scottish Government spoke to eight residents from Double Dykes to find out about their views on community engagement regarding the project. These views are summarised below:

• residents felt there should have been a clearer structure to the consultation process from the start, with everyone made aware of what it was
• residents felt that when the consultation to discuss the improvement works first started, the group meetings held to discuss options were beneficial as everyone could be involved and hear the information directly at the same time - group meetings are no longer happening and some residents felt this had been detrimental to the process, while other residents prefer one to one discussions
• residents felt that the lack of group meetings meant that some residents were hearing information before others which led to confusion - group meetings, supplemented by one to one meetings where necessary and followed up with written information was suggested as a way to achieve greater consistency
• meetings with residents, the council and contractors may have helped to improve communication about the work
• some residents thought that the quality of the new accommodation would be high but were disappointed that there was not an option for a range of accommodation sizes/layouts
• managing expectations is important - residents had thought that the accommodation would be flexible, through moveable partitions, to either be used as a two or three bedroom property - this is no longer the case and they felt that they had initially been offered options that were no longer available.
• some residents felt that they should have been able to choose a different option or not have their chalet replaced but recognised that this was difficult when the majority on the site favoured replacing the existing chalets
• residents were frustrated by delays to the project and while they recognised that these were not always in the control of the council, they felt that communication about the delays could have been better
• some residents felt it would have been better if all residents had moved off the site at the same time rather than completing the work in phases - they felt that they had not been able to input to the decision to phase the work
• some residents still living onsite with phase one underway were finding the proximity of the work to their home difficult - residents recognised that there were advantages and disadvantages to each approach and thought that there should have been more discussion about this as part of the consultation process

Perth and Kinross acknowledged the feedback received and recognises that it is challenging to ensure that all different perspectives are adequately represented. They are continuing to work flexibly with the residents to deliver a successful project. The new accommodation has started to arrive on site, with all residents due to be back in their new homes by summer 2025.