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Placecheck

A method of taking the first steps in

deciding how to improve an area

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This toolkit covers:

Page

1. Overview 3

2. Raising awareness 3

3. Community walks 4

a. Attracting participants 4

b. Points to be taken into consideration 4

c. Devising the walks/ routes 4

d. Who to involve/ include 5

e. Refreshments 5

f. Policies and procedures 5

g. Team briefing 6

h. On the day/s 6

i. Event cancellation 7

j. Templates 7

4. Other ideas for consultation 7

5. Writing your questionnaire 7

Placecheck

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6. Distributing your questionnaire 8

7. Questionnaire returns 8

8. What if the return rate is lower than anticipated? 8

9. Writing your Placecheck report 8

10. Monitoring and evaluation 9

11. Next steps 9

12. Information and support 9

13. Acknowledgements 10

1. Overview

‘Placecheck’ is a method for assessing the qualities of a place, finding out what

improvements are needed, and focusing people on working together to achieve them.This

toolkit is intended to assist a community organisation or a number of individuals to undertake

a ‘Placecheck’ project. It will take you through a project plan to establish how to organise a

‘Placecheck’ and ascertain the beneficiaries, assist you and ‘sign-post’ you to further

information and advice.

It has been compiled on the experience gained from two ‘pilot’ schemes in Moira and

Donisthorpe, North West Leicestershire. Both ‘Placecheck’ projects were initiated in

February 2014, following successful funding submissions to Leicestershire County Council’s

‘Big Society Fund’. The projects relied upon joint working between the Town and Parish

Councils, North West Leicestershire District Council and the RCC.

The toolkit identifies the steps that were taken and suggestions for boosting responses after

low returns to the initial questionnaire.

2. Raising awareness Organise a public briefing to raise awareness or attend a Parish/ Town Council meeting to

explain the scheme.

Apply for funding to support the scheme.

When launching the project, try to link in with existing community events. Book a stand/ stall

at an event and create a small display on the topic of ‘Placecheck’. The simplest way of

doing this, is by setting up a ‘graffiti board’ or a comments box and ask people to make

comments or have flip charts and post it notes for people to jot down ideas. Use the main

headings of ‘likes’, dislikes’ and ‘ideas/ suggestions for improvement’ Ensure that you have a

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clipboard with an attendance sheet and ask interested parties(residents who want to be

involved or kept informed) to leave their contact details.

Utilise Parish Council websites to advertise walking events, plus local newsletters and social

media such as existing ‘Facebook’ sites, also utilise ‘Twitter’. Promote the event through

local schools, either by requesting that bookmarks/ postcards or flyers are put into school

bags or request that the information is forwarded via the ‘school to parent’ communication

system ‘Parentmail’ or similar.

3. Community walks

a) Attracting participants

Create an online survey to enable participants to register, this will also enable you to get an

idea of numbers for catering purposes.

Place adverts in local newsletters approximately two weeks before walks are due to take

place. If your budget allows, arrange a ‘door to door’ delivery of flyers promoting the walks.

Advertise through local tourism sites under ‘what’s on?’ or the ‘events’ section.

Send reminders to your contact list from previous open events, plus clubs and societies,

children’s uniformed clubs etc

Ensure regular updates on Parish Websites, through social media, Facebook etc

b) Points to be taken into consideration

Getting the timing right can be the key to success. Obviously the summer months (June to

September) are less likely to be affected by poor weather and give you longer days but you

are likely to be competing with an already busy event season.

Once you’ve narrowed down the time of year you’ll need to find out what other events are

planned around the same time. As well as walking events you should consider other things

that may compete for the same audience. Avoid Parish Council meetings and District

Council Planning committees.

What time should the walks start? We chose two early evening walks to enable people to get

home from work and join us, and early enough to enable children to join in too. We included

an afternoon walk in the hope of attracting older residents; as broad a demographic as

possible.

On summers evenings you will hopefully benefit from good light.

c) Devising the walks

Devising the route/ s, it’s much easier to organise a walking event if you can devise a

circular route with your start and finish in the same area.

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Use results from initial consultation to create either ‘themed walking routes’ or to discover

sites to be included within the walking routes. Involve Parish Council working groups.

Alternatively divide the settlement into manageable sections or zones.

Obviously you will need to tailor your walk event to the interests and abilities of the people

you plan to attract.

Think about what you need your walkers to know and when they need to know it; advanced

communication, where and when to meet. Publicity and pre- event materials to send out.

Afterwards: Thanks for your efforts and achievements.

Even moderate-sized events take a lot of planning and organising. It’s wise to set up an

organising group right from the start and allocate areas of responsibility. Extra helpers can

be brought in for particular roles, such as stewarding, without having to attend all the

planning meetings. This approach cuts down on stress for particular individuals and ensures

a more efficient use of everyone’s time and energy.

If your route uses ‘rights of way’ on land owned by local authorities or by private landowners

you don’t need their permission but it is polite and sensible to contact them.

If it uses roads, then you should contact the relevant local authority’s highways team.

An interesting and varied route can include a mixture of green spaces, paths and pavements

alongside roads.

Long distances are likely to be unsuitable for families with young children or (some) people

with mobility disabilities. To be inclusive, it may be a good idea to offer a shorter route

option. Try to avoid terrain that is too rough or steep, stiles and kissing gates, overgrown or

muddy pathways.

d) Who to involve/ include

Contact local community groups, uniformed children’s clubs, walking clubs, police and local

businesses.

Keep Parish Clerks informed, request Councillors are involved.

e) Refreshments etc

Book refreshments and meeting venues (a village hall, coffee shop or a pub might be

suitable).

Walk to start and finish at same location, ensure ample parking and toilet provision (including

DDA compliant facilities). Welfare facilities such as refreshments, first aid and toilets.

f) Policies and procedures

All your helpers should stand out from the crowd. Ideally they should wear, for example, a

bright distinctive branded t-shirt or high-visibility tabard. This uniform should be worn as an

outer layer – for example over a coat in cold or wet weather. According to budget a

distinctive arm band or hat may do the job.

Any event organised for the public must have an up-to-date risk assessment to demonstrate

that the organisers have acted responsibly and done everything possible to prevent any

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harm to the participants. This is sometimes referred to as exercising ‘due diligence’. The risk

assessment should be a written document held by the event manager and available for

people to see if they ask for it. For small to moderate-sized events an adequate risk

assessment can be produced by the event organiser taking a realistic and common sense

approach to possible risks within the start/finish areas and on the route. The process need

not be complicated. You will need to make a thorough site visit and walk the route

(preferably on the same day /time of the week that the event is planned to take place, and

certainly not too long in advance of the day itself) and list all the risks*

It’s important to make sure that if something goes wrong at your event it is dealt with in a

structured and systematic way. Therefore, as well as giving adequate briefing in advance,

you should make it easy for your helpers to keep a record. Include an event management

plan, a route map, evidence of public liability insurance.

Marshall/ stewards may need pre-printed forms on which to write down anything which

needs to be reported or communicated to others.

It is generally the case nowadays that although the police may assist with the development

of your event and give advice, they no longer provide a free presence on the day other than

their normal beat presence.

Create forms: such as Incident/Accident forms, Missing/ Found Person Forms, Lost/ Found

Property Forms, see section j.

The route should avoid crossing roads as much as possible and if a crossing is necessary

should use a pelican/zebra crossing if possible. Marshalls may need to help walkers at busy

road crossings and will need appropriate briefing on their duties. The principal task there will

be to advise walkers when it is safe to cross.

The route team will need to check that the route is free from obstructions. Marshalls will also

be your eyes and ears on the ground and can act as a source of information for walkers.

Team members will need to respond to any incidents on the route and know what to do.

Their general task is to communicate with the walkers, know the answers to frequently asked

questions and give encouragement, all of which will help the participants complete their

walk.

* See appendices’

g) Team briefing

A team training/briefing session should be held before the event day. All the team leaders

should be fully briefed about the event and their area of work so that they in turn can

brief/ train any other volunteers in their areas. This session will also give team leaders the

chance to ask questions. The aim is for all team leaders to feel confident about answering

any questions posed by participants (or anyone else) on the day.

Designate a photographer to capture points of interest or specific issues.

Ask for volunteers to take notes.

h) On the day/ days

Provide attendance forms (signing in) see appendices’.

Badges or stickers for names of organiser and stewards/ marshalls.

Asking the helpers to jot down responses if they have time/inclination.

If possible use two-way radio networks, which are a safer method for primary or back-up communication.

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i) Event cancellation

Although it is highly unlikely that the event would need to be cancelled in the days running

up to the event, it is possible. Potential reasons for cancellation might be: sections of the

walk for some reason become unavailable and no alternative can be found; severe weather

is forecast; or that the police have advised the general public to stay away from certain

areas. In advance of the event you will need to consider how to communicate a cancellation

to participants, for example by email, text or local radio.

j) Templates

Appendix i. Event accident/ incident recording form. Page 11

Appendix ii. Risk assessment form (blank). Page 14

Appendix iii. Risk assessment form, completed example. Page 16

Appendix iv. Registration form. Page 19

4. Other ideas for consultation

A Placecheck walk with primary school children. The children could use disposable cameras or digital cameras to record their walk/ s. Then the children could take part in a workshop to talk about their likes, dislikes or ideas for improvement.

An introductory community meeting and workshop.

Meetings involving a desk top exercise: three groups of people answering questions on the three Placecheck topics (people, places and movement).

Targeting specific groups:

i. A daytime meeting aimed at parents with young children.

ii. A workshop involving teenagers

iii. An interview with the community policing team/ representatives

5. Writing your questionnaire

Utilise information from the initial consultation event to understand the topics most important

to the community. The evaluation from that event can help to decide on popular topics for

the settlement.

In addition there are 21 questions that should be considered when devising your

questionnaire, refer to http://www.placecheck.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/21-

questions-for-the-Placecheck-walkabout.pdf

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6. Distributing the questionnaire

Utilise existing distribution means in order to deliver the questionnaires ‘door to door’.

Would local newsletters by prepared to incorporate the questionnaire within the

newsletter or would they deliver a separate questionnaire with the newsletter?

In the case that the community don’t have a newsletter, find out how leaflets are usually

distributed; does the community rely on volunteers or is there a local distribution

company that you could pay to distribute them?

7. Questionnaire returns

Allow a period no longer than four weeks between distribution and return date.

In order to encourage a good return rate, make completing and returning the

questionnaire as easier as possible. Offer the option to complete it on line or ‘freepost’

returns. Ask local shops, businesses or surgeries whether they would be prepared to be

a ‘drop off’ point for completed questionnaires.

Offer an incentive. In the case of Moira and Donisthorpe a £50.00 shopping voucher was

offered by North West Leicestershire District Council. Alternatively ask for sponsorship

for your prize draw from a local business.

8. What if the return rate is lower than anticipated?

Raise awareness! You could undertake a poster campaign and extend your return date.

Make an appointment to go into the local schools and address the children about the

questionnaire. Organise a workshop with School years 5 & 6 at the school and request that

additional questionnaires are put in every school bag. Offer the school an incentive if parents

return completed questionnaires in sufficient quantities. Ask the school if they would be

prepared to use the ‘Parentmail’ system to encourage more returns?

9. Writing your Placecheck report

Collate all the information you have, including questionnaire returns, information from the

initial community consultation, school workshops (if undertaken) and the ‘Placecheck’ walks.

There is no set format for writing the report, but the following examples might be of interest:

i. Abbey Quarter:

http://www.developmentplus.org.uk/phocadownloadpap/placecheck%20monks%20ro

ad%202008%20-%20preview.pdf

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ii. Bracebridge Placecheck:

http://www.developmentplus.org.uk/phocadownloadpap/bracebridge%20placecheck

%202011-%20preview.pdf

iii. Perth and Kinross: http://www.pkc.gov.uk/placecheck

iv. Sincil area, Lincoln. http://www.developmentplus.org.uk/index.php/research-

consultation/downloads/file/4-placecheck-sincil-area-2009

10. Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring, also evaluating your project, is a useful tool to assess what is working well and

what isn’t doing so well. Monitoring and evaluation, rather than being a chore, can act as a

helpful barometer to where you are and can help keep the project on track.

11. Next steps/ action plan

Identify key concerns

Use the document to feed into the local plan process and a forthcoming neighbourhood strategy.

Use as evidence and justification for bids for funding.

Use as an action plan for the community itself to implement, perhaps through forming partnerships with public agencies and businesses.

Start discussions with agencies working in the area as to how the findings of your report could benefit the community.

12. Information and support

Where to get further information, support and resources.

Placecheck

Information and advice on all aspects of ‘Placecheck’ can be found at:

http://www.placecheck.info

Funding Central

A free website that lists grants, contracts and loans, plus tools and information supporting

groups/organisations.

http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk/Default.aspx

Awards for All

Awards for All gives groups an easy way to get small Lottery grants of between £300 and £10,000.

http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

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Leicestershire Funding Toolkit

A free website that contains a funding database and a range of useful information for

voluntary/community groups. Via VAL. http://www.valonline.org.uk/funding-toolkit

RCC (Leicestershire and Rutland)

Community consultation including Community or Parish Plans, setting up Good Neighbour

Schemes, Community Building Service - information and advice. Various Toolkits including:

Disclosure & Barring, Community Event Planning, Fundraising ideas, Regulations for Raffles,

Lotteries and Fundraising events. Tel 0116 266 2905 http://www.ruralcc.org.uk/

Voluntary Action Rutland (Local Infrastructure Organisation - Rutland)

Support to voluntary sector groups in Rutland, including setting up as a group, policies and

procedures, funding advice, volunteering and learning events. Tel 01572 722622

http://www.varutland.org.uk/

Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (Local Infrastructure Organisation - Leicestershire)

Support to voluntary sector groups, including setting up as a group, policies and procedures,

funding advice, volunteering, learning events and the Leicestershire Funding Toolkit. Help line 0116

257 5050 http://www.valonline.org.uk/

13. Acknowledgements

The RCC (Leics and Rutland) would like to acknowledge the help from North West Leicestershire

District Council, Ashby Woulds Town Council and Oakthorpe, Donisthorpe and Acresford Parish

Council in their help with compiling this tool kit. The project was funded by Leicestershire County

Council’s ‘Big Society’ Grant Fund.

Rural Community Council (Leicestershire & Rutland)

Community House, 133, Loughborough Road, Leicester, LE4 5LQ

(0116) 266 2905 ruraladvice@ruralcc.org.uk www.ruralcc.org.uk

Charity No. 1077645 Company No. 3665974

Please let us know what you think of this toolkit via contact details above

Every effort has been made to ensure the information in this toolkit was correct at the date of

publication: October2015. The RCC cannot be held responsible for any omissions or errors.

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Appendix i

Event accident/ incident recording form

Route:

Date:

Please use this form to record anything which needed the attention of event helpers. This

form applies to the following (please tick):

Accident

Incident

Lost/ found children (or adults)

Lost/ found property (with description and where it was lost/ found).

Other

Describe....

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Please use this form to record anything which needed the attention of event helpers. This

form applies to the following (please tick):

Accident

Incident

Lost/ found children (or adults)

Lost/ found property (with description and where it was lost/ found).

Other

Reported by (name of the participant or member of the public):

Contact details:

Information recorded by (name of helper): Contact details:

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Please use this form to record anything which needed the attention of event helpers. This

form applies to the following (please tick):

Accident

Incident

Lost/ found children (or adults)

Lost/ found property (with description and where it was lost/ found).

Other

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Appendix ii

Risk Assessment sheet (blank)

Route:

Date:

Assessment carried out by:

Hazard Who might be

harmed?

How can the risk be

controlled?

What further

action is needed

to control the

risk?

Slips/ trips/ falls

Route obstructions (including planned highway maintenance works)

Road crossings

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Hazard Who might be

harmed?

How can the risk be

controlled?

What further

action is needed

to control the

risk?

Participants’ pre-existing medical conditions/general fitness.

Weather conditions (hypothermia/sunburn/heat exhaustion).

Sudden route obstructions

Heavy rain may create

mud on un- surfaced paths

Sections of the walks that

run alongside busy roads

Cyclists who may use

paths that are shared with

pedestrians

Overhanging vegetation.

Animals, particularly farm

livestock.

Areas of water

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Appendix iii

Risk Assessment sheet

Route:

Date:

Assessment carried out by:

Hazard Who might be

harmed?

How can the risk be

controlled?

What further

action is needed

to control the

risk?

Slips/ trips/ falls

A child or someone

slow and unsteady

on their feet.

Instruct all parties to be

vigilant about others safety.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Route obstructions (including planned highway maintenance works)

All participants Consult with Leicestershire

County Council’s Highways

Dept about planned road

works, and if the route if

affected find an alternative/

deviation.

Low risk

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Hazard Who might be

harmed?

How can the risk be

controlled?

What further

action is needed

to control the

risk?

Road crossings

All participants Brief the marshals on their

role: to ensure that walkers

abide by the crossing

signals and don’t try to

cross when it isn’t safe.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Participants’ pre-existing medical conditions/general fitness.

Ensure that the route length

has been clearly

communicated in advance

of the event and that any

particular challenges are

highlighted.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Weather conditions (hypothermia/sunburn/heat exhaustion).

All participants Forecast is good. All

participants have been

advised to wear hats and

apply sun block.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Sudden route obstructions

Marshals/ stewards to stop

walk and contact walk

organiser who will be

responsible for changing

route.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Heavy rain may create

mud on un- surfaced paths

In the instance of heavy

rain the walk will be

cancelled.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Sections of the walks that

run alongside busy roads

A child or someone

slow and unsteady

on their feet.

Instruct all parties to be

vigilant about others safety.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Cyclists who may use

paths that are shared with

pedestrians

All pedestrians Brief the marshals on their

role: to ensure all walkers

are aware of approaching

cyclists.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Overhanging vegetation. A child or someone

slow and unsteady

on their feet.

18

Hazard Who might be

harmed?

How can the risk be

controlled?

What further

action is needed

to control the

risk?

Animals, particularly farm

livestock.

Dog walkers Stop, look and listen on

entering a field. Look out for

any animals and watch how

they are behaving. Try to

avoid getting between cows

and their calves, Move

quickly and quietly, and if

possible walk around the

herd. Walking with dogs to

keep them under close and

effective control on a lead

and not to hang onto their

dog if they feel threatened.

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Areas of water

Young children Brief the marshals on their

role: to ensure all walkers

are aware of areas of water

Risk considered

acceptable, no

further action

required.

Registration form

Route: Date:

Name Postcode Would you like to be kept informed of progress

with Placecheck? (If yes, please leave your

contact details in the next column).

Email/ telephone

20

Name Postcode Would you like to be kept informed of progress

with Placecheck? (If yes, please leave your

contact details in the next column).

Email/ telephone

Appendix iv