How did it start?

By the end of the 1990s, Deighton and Brackenhall were labouring under a massive stigma. Two hundred council homes stood empty and, says Peter Beck, the neighbourhood housing manager, ‘We couldn’t rent them for love nor money.’

Jean Calvert, who has represented the area since 1992, recalls holding surgeries where people would tell her they were desperate for a council house but there was no way they would move to Brackenhall.

The council was haemorrhaging money in lost rents. Something had to change and the first step on the long road to a new Deighton and Brackenhall was to talk with local people.

Two meetings sparked what would become the Deighton and Brackenhall Initiative. The first was held in September 1997 and involved representatives from council services and other agencies such as the police and the NHS. The Deighton ward ‘Getting There’ conference followed at the end of the month, with representation from a wide range of community organisations. Many of them gave presentations on the work they were doing in and around the area.

People attending the conference were invited to give their opinions on what should happen in the area. The word cloud above was created from the notes made during these feedback sessions and gives a sense of the main areas of concern.

Following these two meetings, the DBI was launched. It comprised 10 action groups:

· housing and environment

· multi-agency building projects (including welfare benefits)

· childcare

· employment and training

· crime and drugs

· health

· education

· sport and leisure

· youth

· older people

These groups set up meetings and consultation exercises in order to prepare individual action plans. All the plans were then combined to form the Deighton and Brackenhall Initiative Summary Action Plan.

Interestingly, the word 'houses' is only just visible on the word cloud. But it was the issue of what to do about the area's empty homes that prompted the most drastic action.