In our work on Murphy’s Yard and the Kentish Town Development Framework we collected more than 213 items recording individual responses and ideas directly from the community that live around the new zoned area; the people that are going to be most affected by the development. Our data doesn’t just come from superficial questionnaires, it is rich and diverse and includes annotated watercolour images, line drawings, textile crafts, a large felt map, felted icons and written comments.
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Consultation often happens when it is too late to have any real engagement. We live in the Kentish Town Development Framework area. We have been asking the community what they want to happen in this development since September 2017 when we organised a stall at our Parliament Hill Street Party. We followed this up with community mapping workshops with Year 5 and 6 children at Gospel Oak School in 2018 and 2019 and further engagement activities at our 2018 Street Party.
Our data is knowledge production. It ranges from annotated short films, watercolour images, large maps, line drawings, textile crafts, felted maps, felted icons and written comments. Here are just some of the materials produced by the local community showing what they want from Murphy’s Yard.
Our community overwhelmingly said they want the new development to provide green space, blue space, educational, and cultural space, play, wellbeing and health facilities and more social rented housing. By social housing they mean housing that they can afford to live in, that they have a say in, and that gives something back to the community.
