Starting in 2026 we will begin the transition to our Place-Based working model. We will be beginning to launch dedicated Place Teams, based within communities, taking the incredible lessons we learned from our pilots and gradually rolling them out across Bromford Flagship.
But a place without a plan is just a team of people. To make this work, every single one of our 78 places needs a unique Place Plan.
This isn't just a corporate document – a place plan is our shared commitment to the people living there. It is a roadmap that answers the question: how will we make this specific community better, safer, and happier over the next three years? The next five years. Even the next fifteen years.
The Golden Rule: "Resident First"
We might think we know what a neighbourhood needs (perhaps new windows or a different repairs schedule). But the people living there might tell us their actual priority is better lighting in the car park or a safe place for young people to meet.
Our Place Plans must be built on resident influence. If the plan doesn't reflect what our customers are telling us, it will just be an internal view.
Over the weeks and months ahead we’ll be starting a conversation about how we develop this approach. It’s not something we want happening behind closed doors as ultimately place plans will be something that informs how the whole organisation delivers.
A key starting point involves defining the plan itself:
What is a place plan?
What should be on a place plan?
Who should be involved in creating it?
And then once we’ve answered that, a different set of questions:
How do others approach place plans (e.g., Local Authorities we work with)?
Do different places need different sorts of engagement?
How can we make them visible?
How do residents scrutinise/monitor plans?
This is a collaborative piece of work and a really exciting opportunity to look at our places through a different lens. Please feel free to add any ideas or questions of your own.
If you’d like to know more about bottom-up place planning then please read our blogs on rhe journey of the priors park team here:
We’ll post another update soon.