One of the country’s most ambitious housing-led regeneration schemes is breathing new life into what was once described as “rotten and horrible, like a concrete wasteland” by one of its favourite sons, Peter Hook of New Order fame.
Pendleton Together is a £650 million project which will see 1,600 new energy efficient homes built and 1,250 council-owned properties refurbished in Salford. However, it’s about more than just numbers, it’s about creating change through local jobs and training opportunities, providing support to families, making the local environment an attractive place to live and, ultimately, giving new hope to a hard hit community.
Pendleton has a rich and varied housing history. Once home to the classic Victorian slum, Pendleton was cleared in the 1960s to make way for the brave new inspired high rise development which unfortunately failed to create the urban utopia it set out to.
For the last three decades Pendleton has had its issues. It is a densely populated area, just a mile from Salford Quays and MediaCity. More than 40 per cent of residents have no formal qualifications and just 41 per cent of working age residents are in employment. It is in the bottom one per cent of the UK for health deprivation. However, over the last 10 years the local community has fought hard for change and now their dreams for the area are being realised.
IPB Communication’s role dates back to 2005 when we first worked with the Salford City Council on:
- Producing the initial bid for funding to the Government. Our role was to interpret and capture the vision for the area and then translate into a variety of mediums for the bid process. This included a short film explaining the reasons for the bid and the outcomes if successful.
- Following the successful first round bid, we then worked with the council to produce consultation material and a consultation programme about the implications of the scheme for their homes and neighbourhoods.
At the beginning of 2012 we were appointed by the successful consortium charged with carrying out the work in Pendleton. This has involved working with 12 partner organisations, including Salford City Council, Together Housing Group, politicians and various other partners.
Our work has been focussed on:
- leading all communications for the project;
- explaining the benefits of the project to a variety of audiences;
- securing planning permission for the scheme via direct consultation with 2000 plus residents;
- raising the profile of the project among key stakeholders at a local, regional and national level;
- updating and involving key politicians in the project;
- creating and maintaining a momentum for the project;
- creating a brand for the project;
- updating key partners about the project on a regular basis;
- managing all media relations; and
- policing the brand.
We launched the scheme on 17th September 2013 and a year on the area is starting to benefit from the transformation. Throughout this first year residents and key stakeholders have been updated about progress through a variety of methods, including direct publications, face-to-face and social media. As part of the year one celebrations we produced an infographic for key stakeholders to explain the scheme’s impact – an extremely simple and effective snapshot of the project.
IPB Communications is an award winning PR, consultation and creative agency. We are trusted by some of the UK’s biggest brands to deliver communications on their behalf including Tesco, National Grid, RWE Innogy UK, Keepmoat and Barratt Homes. We have also worked with almost 100 different public sector organisations, including local authorities, housing associations and regeneration organisations.
