Brent River Park case study

Brent River Park has been redeveloped significantly over the past six years. A consultation in 1999 found that more than 75 per cent of local residents wanted the site regenerated. Brent Council drew up a plan the following year, and in 2004, an official reopening ceremony marked completion of a £1.37m regeneration project.

The programme was managed from start to finish using environmental-management standard ISO 14001. ISO 14001 requires the council to work with communities to address activities that might have a negative environmental impact, consult on and develop an environmental policy, and continually refine it.

Ros Baptiste, a local resident for more than 24 years and a member of voluntary organization Friends of Brent River Park, explains how the project and council's use of ISO 14001 principles:

• made the park more accessible and useful for residents
• increased security and the perception of safety
• built better relationships between local people and the council.

Regenerating the park for public use

The regeneration involved seven partnerships, all of which needed to be managed. ISO 14001 helped the council define and steer these relationships. Brent Council and the Environment Agency took the lead, working with the UK River Restoration Centre, engineering consultancy Halcrow, Groundwork West London, Alperton Millennium Volunteers, Thames 21 and the Friends of Brent River Park.

Ros Baptiste says:
"I got involved for my kids. I wanted the park to be part of their future. It's cleaner now and used much more. There's something for everyone. The circular walkway is great for adults for exercise and relaxation, the skateboarding park is for the youngsters and we're looking to get funding for a cricket pitch.

"With all the new facilities, I can see a lot more families using the park now. People used to use it as a shortcut, but now they're stopping for much longer. My daughter uses it for riding her bike and comes through on her way back from school.

"We get to see a lot more of the birds - they use the park as a stop-off point when migrating. I'm no ornithologist, but I love to see them."

The council's annual parks survey - an important part of its ongoing commitment to consulting with residents and managing parks to ISO 14001 standards - shows increased satisfaction levels among residents.

Cleanliness within the park was rated eight out of ten (with ten being the highest) by survey respondents in 2005 - a two-point increase over the 2002 figure. The quality of flowers was 7 (a one-point improvement on 2002). The estimated number of visits each year has risen sharply to more than 1.7 million, with more than half respondents visiting at least once or twice per week.

Making the park safer

Previously, Brent River Park was not viewed as safe, partly because it was a home to drug users. An additional footbridge was installed to encourage people to use the park as a thoroughfare, covered by CCTV cameras to make residents feel safer.

Ros Baptiste says:
"The park was used as a shortcut but it wasn't particularly well lit. The wildlife area at the far end of the park used to attract drug users. Now it's safer, more people are happy to use the park as a shortcut to local retailers."

The council's ongoing survey shows that the perception of security has improved. A rating of five out of ten in 2002 ('fair') has increased to a seven in 2005 (showing residents now believe security to be 'good').

Keeping residents involved

Communicating an environmental-management policy effectively is one of the key elements of ISO 14001. During the Brent River Park project, the council was keen to keep a strong two-way dialogue going.

Ros Baptiste says:
"The council was very good. There were some things that I thought they wouldn't take any notice of, but they did. At times, there were differences of opinion about how funding should be used, but it was always talked through and explained to us. Often we were given options to choose from.

"Communication was excellent throughout the process. The council actively encouraged involvement - there were many public meetings and residents were involved from the start."

The park's ongoing management is guided by ISO 14001. The council's parks service manages a comprehensive grounds maintenance provision which includes the design, construction, development and maintenance of hard and soft landscape features, advice and consultancy for nature conservation, horticulture, tree surgery, sports and allotment lettings, events management, facilities management and security services.