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Sandwell - Haines Branch Walk

Summary

About

Purpose of Grant – To develop a strategy and proposal that can be taken to funders, enabling the development of the seating area and the remainder of the Haines Branch Walk site.

Haines Branch Walk( in a nutshell) is an old Canal Spur (approx 500 yds) that leads from Great Bridge high street to Sheepwash Urban Nature Reserve. At present the area is a magnet for anti-social behaviour, Alcoholics, Drug Addicts litter and burnt out cars. Currently it is an area that local people are scared to use. The purpose of the Haines Branch Walk Project is to provide a seating/information area at the town end and make the remainder safe, environmentally friendly and fit for community use.

We have achieved planning permission for the seating area but to move forward we require a full and credible cost for the site development. The project has the added complication of having two owners British Waterways and Sandwell Council, the seating area will be on British Waterways Land where there is no problem (glad for someone to take it off their hands) Sandwell Council however need to be convinced that – local people want the improvements and any maintenance cost is Revenue Neutral.

The Fair Share Trust Panel have been fully supportive of the project from the start and their challenge has been to provide evidence that will encourage Sandwell Council accept the need for the project. The panel decided to fund Wider Impact to pull all strands together and produce a report that will convince Sandwell Council to accept liability and produce a fully costed project report that can be put to funders. Working in partnership with Sandwell Council for Voluntary Organisations a Community Consultation has been carried out, which included A ‘Meet the Public’ event at the Great Bridge Indoor Market (as part of a wider multi-agency networking event organised by Carole Harte, SCVO, attended by up to 10 local, groups, statutory agencies, faith groups and local small businesses), and one at Alexandra High School (involving 30 Year 12 pupils and teachers as part of a History lesson).

This consultation has enabled the project compile a DVD outlining the project and the concerns and suggestions of local people. The consultation produced 118 responses from members of the local community and 19 responses from Great Bridge traders / business people The community responses produced the following data: 47.5% were from young people (under 15 years) 77% of respondents have visited the site 33% of all respondents regularly use the site 44% rarely use the site 21% never visit the site 29% use the site as a short cut to the Town Centre 55% use the site for leisure 8% use the site to meet other people 6% use the site for ‘dog walking’ 2% use the site for cycling.

Based on a score of 1 being ‘low’ and 5 being ‘high’ (strong views): 80% are very aware of places where they can walk and enjoy the countryside (score 3-5) 93% feel keeping fit and active is important (score 3-5) 91% would walk and exercise more if there were more interesting places to visit (score 3-5) 90% feel looking after the environment is important (score 3-5) 86% would like to know more about local heritage (score 3-5) 53% feel Haines Branch Walk is a nice place to walk (score 3-5) 50% feel the area suffers badly from litter (score 1-2) 44% feel safe when using the walkway (score 1-2) 68% would miss it if it were to close (score 3-5) (12% ‘no views’ on this question) 38 local people have indicated they are interested in supporting the ongoing development of the Haines Branch Walks / or other community activity.

Following this work the improvements have been endorsed by the local police as an aid to reducing anti-social behaviour and identified the need to form a Not for Profit Company to act as accountable body and take charge of the management and fundraising post Fair Share Trust ensuring the long term sustainability. The full report and DVD will be submitted to Fair Share Trust and form part of the legacy of the programme.

 

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