HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
AGENDA 21 PANEL ITEM 3
26 FEBRUARY 1996
HEADSTART COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PROGRAMME:
PROGRESS REPORT
REPORT OF THE COUNTY SURVEYOR
1. Purpose of Report
1.1 The HEADSTART Community Involvement Programme has now
completed its first full year of operation. During this
period considerable progress has been made in helping to
raise public awareness of the implications of people's travel
decisions with the aim of encouraging more sensible use of
the car. The purpose of this report is to consider the key
findings of the Community Involvement Programme and highlight
some of the main HEADSTART achievements over the last year.
2. Background
2.1 The County Council has recognised for some time that the
issue of public attitudes and perceptions to the use of the
car, and public transport in particular, is at the heart of
the transport debate on sustainability. It is important that
people recognise that by more sensible use of the car they
will benefit their health and society as a whole. The
HEADSTART campaign aims to make people more aware of the
implications of their travel decisions, get them to accept
that they are part of the problem and part of the solution
and eventually to mobilise people into action which will
bring about behavioural change. It is not an anti-car
campaign, but seeks to encourage people to think first before
making decisions regarding travel. With this in mind the
County Council has developed and implemented an innovative
Community Involvement Programme.
2.2 The main thrust of the Community Involvement Programme is to
provide a grass roots approach using a network of existing
well established groups in the County. Many of these groups
were not traditionally transport related, for example mother
and toddler groups, sixth form colleges, the Ramblers'
Association, the Women's Institute, local community groups
and many others. Communications consultants have been
employed to deliver the programme which has the following
main objectives:
(i) raise the profile of transport issues in Hampshire;
(ii) build awareness of the urgency of the problem;
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(iii) encourage dialogue about the impacts of traffic
growth on the quality of life; and
(iv) help identify the kind of solutions needed and how
they can contribute either individually or
collectively.
2.3 The aim is to reach directly as many people in Hampshire as
possible through a structure of existing community networks
involving a programme of group workshops. The local groups
were encouraged to develop ideas about what they, either
individually or collectively, can do to cut down on car use,
or make more sensible use of the car. The groups were
challenged to consider how their travel choices can be
managed in such a way as to reduce the pressure on
Hampshire's transport infrastructure. The Workshops explored
a range of issues including perceived transport problems,
local, national and international transport initiatives, and
a variety of possible solutions to a range of transport
issues. Each participant received an information kit to take
home.
2.4 Hampshire is the first County in Great Britain to use the
latest CD-ROM technology to raise public awareness and
promote community involvement in the County's transport
dilemma. The innovative HEADSTART CD-ROM programme provides
an interactive multi-media facility encouraging a spirit of
exploration with participants choosing from video footage,
illustrative charts, graphs, written material and dynamic
graphics to present a lively and interesting overview of the
transport spectrum.
3. Key Issues and Concerns
3.1 Since February 1995 over 60 workshops have been completed and
a further 25 are already planned. In addition, over 650
groups have been reached through a process of networking
involving direct contact with target audiences at a grass
roots level. Through this process around 1,000
transportation issues which concern participants have been
raised during the workshops. Although many of the concerns
are repetitive there were still approximately 200 different
issues.
3.2 Of the 200 different concerns the top five issues identified
by workshop participants are, in priority order, as follows:
(i) public transport fares are too high;
(ii) air pollution caused by traffic;
(iii) inadequate, infrequent and inconsistent public
transport services;
(iv) too few cycle paths or lanes, poor linkages of cycle
lanes and the lack of safe routes; and
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(v) time lost through congestion.
3.3 Workshop groups were held in different sectors of the
community and in different areas. However, barriers to using
alternatives to the car dominated many workshops. These
included the higher perceived cost of public transport
compared to using a car, together with the poor matching of
bus and rail services to the needs of individuals. Poor
reliability, infrequent services and an inadequate network
were often highlighted. Much of this was blamed on the lack
of investment in public transport as compared to roads. The
dangers of cycling and walking in a car orientated society
was also an important issue. Participants felt that both
cycling and walking could be attractive alternatives to the
car, but concerns over safety would need to be overcome
first.
3.4 Air pollution was by far the most important environmental
concern held by the groups. There were serious concerns over
personal welfare and possible general health risks caused by
vehicle emissions. The impact of the transport sector on
climatic change was another area of concern.
3.5 Both congestion and the effects of inconsiderate motoring
were commonly cited as major problems. There was a general
call for greater enforcement and harsher penalties for
offenders, especially for speeding. Better land use planning
linked with good public transport facilities was also
considered to be part of the solution in helping to cut down
car use and hence reducing congestion. The increased use of
rail for carrying freight was also well supported.
4. Solutions Identified by the Public
4.1 HEADSTART aims to encourage people to find their own
solutions to the transport problems facing Hampshire. At the
workshops participants are asked to provide responses at
three levels:
(i) community solutions;
(ii) individual solutions; and
(iii) recommendations to decision makers.
4.2 Over 30 different possible community actions have already
been identified through the workshops. These include car
pooling initiatives for work, school and shopping trips,
setting up a rota for walking children to school, the
introduction of a community bus and the development of staff
commuter plans for businesses. At the individual level over
70 ideas have been put forward. It would appear that the
public are prepared to walk and cycle more if conditions were
improved. Other suggestions included car sharing, having
shopping delivered, reconsidering the need for a journey and
using public transport more often.
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4.2 Workshop participants were encouraged to make recommendations
to decision makers like the County Council. This was
considered to be a valuable part of the HEADSTART initiative
and provided the public with a greater sense of involvement
in public affairs and the decision making process. There was
strong support for the development of integrated
transportation strategies to help deal with our transport
problems, but there was a clear need to provide reliable,
frequent and inexpensive public transport. To support this
participants believed that government funds should be
diverted from roads to help provide an integrated public
transport system. Local people want to be involved more in
transport planning procedures at an early stage rather than
being consulted on what may often appear to be a final
solution. There were numerous other suggestions which
supported the need for a range of transport measures
including more traffic calming, more park and ride, cheaper
integrated bus tickets, secure and safe cycle facilities and
better enforcement to help reduce speeding.
5. HEADSTART Achievements
5.1 The HEADSTART Community Involvement Programme has been so
successful that it has been applied to other areas of
transportation. HEADSTART has been used as part of the
consultation process on the South East Hampshire
Transportation Strategy and is also an integral part of the
innovative school transport plan under development for
Horndean Community School. Both initiatives have attracted
special visits by government ministers to see first hand how
HEADSTART works. HEADSTART is now a feature of the emerging
Basingstoke Area Transportation Strategy as well as the
proposed North East Hampshire Transportation Strategy.
5.2 The application of HEADSTART in helping to deliver a school
transport plan for Horndean Community School has resulted in
Hampshire County Council being selected to be part of the
national Streets Ahead initiative in recognition of the
pioneering nature of the project. Hampshire is one of only
12 local authorities chosen to participate.
5.3 HEADSTART has also been selected by the UK National Council
for the United Nations City Summit as one of the top six
AGENDA 21 initiatives, and the only transport initiative, in
the United Kingdom. HEADSTART is to be included in the
Habitat II programme as an example to the United Nations of
best practice in the UK. Habitat II is a world conference
called by the United Nations and will be held in Istanbul in
June 1996. As part of this process a report on the HEADSTART
Community Involvement Programme has been published in a new
book "Living for the Future" funded by the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation.
6. The Next Steps
6.1 The CD-ROM, a "How to" manual explaining the operation of the
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Community Involvement Programme workshops, and reports of
results to date, including monitoring and evaluation, are all
to be made available on a commercial basis to local
authorities, and other interested bodies and individuals
later in 1996. A provision is being made as part of the
special studies allocation in the 1996/97 revenue budget of
the Planning and Transportation Committee to continue the
development of the campaign. While the overall special
studies budget has been reduced to achieve savings it is
hoped that Headstart can continue at, or close to, its
1995/96 level of £80,000 to allow the campaign to develop
further and increase its impact building on the encouraging
results obtained to date.
7. Comments
7.1 There is increasing evidence that HEADSTART is having an
impact on the level of awareness of transportation issues in
Hampshire, and is also helping to encourage more sensible use
of the car. However, it is not a panacea for our transport
problems. The use of HEADSTART to pave the way for the
development of integrated strategies across the county is
becoming increasingly important. Involving the public in the
development of transport policy at an early stage in a
participative way, rather than a consultative way, is a
feature that is gaining recognition across the transport
profession and is also attracting attention from government.
Monitoring and evaluation of HEADSTART is under way and a
detailed report is expected later this year.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. That the progress and achievements of the HEADSTART Community
Involvement Programme be noted and that the local community
groups involved be thanked for their cooperation and
assistance in helping to develop the project.
2. That the UK National Council for the United Nations City
Summit be thanked for selecting HEADSTART as an example of
Agenda 21 best practice in the United Kingdom.
3. That a Hampshire delegation be sent to the world summit in
Istanbul in June 1996 subject to resource availability.
3375/AC
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