Woodberry Down

Woodberry Down Estate Development Committee [EDC] has been working with Hackney Council’s estate regeneration team to redesign their estate through refurbishment, demolition and new build. Their goal is to become a community-based housing organisation to ensure that the benefits of the regeneration area are sustained.

Woodberry Down is a large, ethnically diverse estate in Hackney, North London. Over the last 10 years the area had seen an influx of refugees, particularly from Somalia and West Africa. This has created more of a mixed community, alongside the established elderly and second generation people from the area. 

The regeneration area covered 2500 homes, all in low rise 1940-60s blocks, which were in a very poor state of physical repair, with approximately half due to be demolished to meet the Decent Homes Standard and create new affordable housing. The area received Single Regeneration Budget funding from the government for £22 million (including £13.8m for housing) to be spread over 7 years. The council initiated the EDC so they could consult with a resident body on options for estate regeneration. One member of the group got involved because: “I believe the local people deserve it and I think it’s achievable to have a better future”. The EDC is made up of 31 representatives, of which 21 were directly elected from the 14 areas and 10 were put forward from existing tenants and residents associations and shop holders.

The group, working closely with the council, came up with a masterplan of rolling regeneration, whereby tenants in the worst blocks would move straight into newly built homes on the estate. The first lot of new homes were to be built on the site of an old school. This rolling plan means that tenants would not have to move off the estate during building work and then move back again into their new homes. The masterplan includes increasing the number of homes on the estate and improving facilities such as health centres and training areas for residents.

After the original masterplan had been agreed with residents, the group attended several training courses at Trafford Hall, to gain the necessary skills to enable them to get involved in refurbishing their homes and have a say in the actual design of the area.

To get more residents involved in the design process, the group organised a Places by Design course on the estate. They felt the course at Trafford Hall had been so useful to them in explaining the process they were undergoing, they wanted the rest of the group to experience it. They applied for a grant from the Glass-House, which paid for a Local Design Workshop. At the workshop the group experimented with design ideas concerning local road layout, where to put facilities and different types of housing design.

The group’s ultimate goal is to become a community-based housing organisation. “It’s pointless to expend energy into a project if it just goes from council ownership to a big conglomerate and the problems are still there. Local management and control is what we want.” The EDC would also like a building of their own, big enough to hold estate-wide meetings, and house community facilities and office space. Plans for such a building were in the masterplan and the group are continuing to push for this.

The group gained knowledge and understanding of the process and technicalities involved. There were frustrations relating to the level of understanding between the professionals and residents, and they also queried the levels of experience off some of those involved.

Because of the scale of the project, the main priority was to bridge the communication gap between the professionals and the tenants, as opposed to impacting the actual project directly.

Neighbourhoods

Community influence on major masterplan

Large scale masterplanning project which is 5 years into the process.

Plans to increase density and private ownership by 50% whilst keeping the existing tenants on the site.

The general feeling of the residents is that they have been over consulted on the process.

Local Design Workshop

Bridged communication gap between the professionals and tenants.

Gained knowledge and understanding of the process and technicalities involved.

Places workshop

Homes and Buildings by Design

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