ABSTRACT
A two year ‘action research’ project was developed by the Priority Estates Project (PEP), with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to work with two local authorities (Burnley District Council and Coventry City Council) on developing a bottom-up and comprehensive approach to service delivery on deprived estates. Neither site was pristine – Coventry had already been working for three years to implement an area co-ordination policy in Wood End, while a lot of effort had been put into developing an Estate Management Board in Burnley West End. In theory, therefore, some of the structures needed to make a targeted ‘local service partnership’ work were already in place. In Coventry, the main change was the provision of a community worker, aiming to reinforce and develop active involvement in the work from within the local community. In Burnley, the Council appointed an area co-ordinator, while PEP employed a community development worker to work with the co-ordinator. In both places, PEP consultants were to be used to guide and steer the project where necessary, and to collect data for monitoring and evaluation.30
