The Project: The Sele Farm Estate is located in one of the most challenging areas in East Hertfordshire, with the highest levels of council or social housing in the district, and nationally high levels
of divorce, separation and poor health. The council had embarked on the rebuild of a community centre with better facilities and improvements to the surrounding green space with Section 106 agreement funding through the provision of essential affordable housing. To ensure the rebuild and improvements successfully
met the real needs of all the community, the Council was determined to gain a more balanced range of views including the passive and ‘hard-to-reach’ in addition to the established group of older, more vocal community centre users.
The Idea: The Perception REA creative team devised a new consultation method which created situations where the ‘silent majority’ of concerned residents, from children through to pensioners
could feel free to voice their candid opinions about the centre, its users and the full potential for new facilities. The process needed to be sympathetic to the commitment and sense of ownership of the
established hierarchy of the community leaders, while establishing a basis for a new more democratic management.
Perception AREA commissioned digital media documentary artist Karen Lois Whiteread to work with the team and identify locations and opportunities to help her connect with the community over four
months in and around the Sele Farm Estate. Karen’s practice is to immerse herself within the community and trigger honest responses documented on film.
The Work: Karen visited people’s homes, the local hairdressers, the pub and the local school to talk and film a cross section of the community. Three ‘Big Brother’ style video diary rooms were set up which attracted additional visitors. The project team reviewed the responses regularly and guided Karen to best manage the complex community relationships.
Over 300 people were motivated to share their thoughts about the centre and the surrounding open space, as part of the video documentary process which resulted in a 20 minute film entitled ‘It’s All
Going on at Sele’.
TheResults: The conversations and film highlighted the residents’ strong personal connections to the area and a high level of enthusiasm for making the estate a better place in which to live. A fear of crime in the community was shown to be a barrier to younger people using the
community centre and surrounding space. In response to the views expressed in the film, a new management committee with representation from all sectors of the Estate including young people has been formed, to develop a successful and diverse range of activities for the Centre, ensuring the facility will be a vital, sustainable resource for all the community. Copies of the DVD were distributed to the Council and the residents, and public screenings planned, ensuring the wider community would benefit from the new spirit of ownership and responsibility. The council confidently invested in the facility and has
applied the consultation findings to future planning.
