This is a CTP of initiative: Transition Town Tooting (UK)
This turning point relates to the involvement of TTT in the neighbourhood planning process within Tooting.
This feels like a critical turning point for TTT because, after nearly eight years, it feels like it has really pulled everyone together with the purpose of producing this document that has legal teeth and the potential to influence the development of the locality in the coming years. It is an externally focused project within their area that feels very important.
In the spring of 2015, the neighbourhood planning process came onto their radar. Neighbourhood planning allows communities to develop a shared vision for the future of their local area. They are able to share their views on local housing, amenities and infrastructure.
The awareness of the neighbourhood planning process occurred at a moment when the connections that TTT had with other groups, community and business – built up over several years – were becoming more apparent.
They recognized this, and decided to organise an event called Looking Out For Tooting. This is really reflected the start of the overall neighbourhood planning process, even though it wasn’t formalized as such. In the ‘Looking Our For Tooting’ afternoon they focused on 6 things:
They wanted to create a moment where they gathered as many people as they could – recognizing the work that everybody was doing for the community and celebrating it, and thinking about richer ways to connect.
At the end of that meeting, they had an open session to see where people’s energy was and, for about half the room (there were about 40 people), the things that they wanted to talk about were connected to neighbourhood planning. So, they had a conversation around neighbourhood planning which framed these various issues and which reflected the start of the process. So, they had recognized that it was an opportunity for TTT and then, at the Looking Out for Tooting event, the appetite for engaging in the process was made real. It was the catalyst. They then convened a conversation about it.
Since then, they have been meeting every month and they are about to do the first stage which involves applying to the council to be recognized.
This involves getting several things together:
They like to say that they have “convened a conversation”. They have always said that this is not a TTT project. The group driving the process forward includes two Transition related people but also a representative of the Ballam and Tooting Community Association and a Labour Party activist who is also involved in urban planning. The decision to not lead the process as a solely TTT project was so that it could not be dismissed as a niche interest of environmental activists. 50 – 60 people from various different groups have contributed to the process, so it has a feeling of momentum. Thus far, the actual process feels very ‘honest’ for the people involved. People are trusting that it will make a real change. It feels like the energy around it is ‘good’. It could take up to two years to complete the whole process.
The Trashcatchers carnival [see CTP 115] was the first example of a project where TTT did something that brought people together so it was a precursor and a starting point. The Looking Out For Tooting event felt like the culmination of this stage of Transition Town Tooting.
In January 2015, they attended Sadiq Kahn’s reception at the House of Parliament where he invites various community groups along (see also CTP 114). At this event, they were presented as THE sustainability people in Tooting. This felt significant and gave them more confidence.
There are three stages to neighbourhood planning:
The interviewee couldn’t think of any conflict on the journey so far.
They have a set timeline, but they have allowed deadlines to drift – for example in the case of applying to the council for formal recognition. It feels like they have gone at the right pace: they have not rushed it, but they have not gone too slow either. The interviewee feels that this approach has helped minimize conflict (E.g. not too fast to make people feel rushed but not too slow to lose people through inaction).
They have also tried to ‘hold it open’ as a process so far. This has meant avoiding getting into the outcomes straight away. Instead, they have asked open questions such as ‘What do you cherish about Tooting?’ or ‘What do you think that we don’t have in Tooting that would be good?’ or ‘What do you think we should celebrate in Tooting?’ This allows all different feelings, points and perspectives to be tabled without any conflict being generated. To date, methods which are in keeping with a Transition type process have been applied in this context and have helped minimize conflict.
Another approach that they have used is called ‘Give and Gain’ from Lucy Neal’s book ‘Playing for Time’ [Lucy Neil is the founder of TTT, see CTP 114]. Give and Gain is a way of sharing the early moment of a journey in order to create a frame which not only provides a way for people to work, but also a roadmap described in order to address arguments or conflicts. Hence, they have been aware of this aspect of the process from the outset and have been conscious of doing their best not to get into those kinds of situations. However, they are mindful that conflict may arise in the future as more specific projects emerge.
TTT becoming involved in neighbourhood planning wasn’t anticipated by anyone.
The Looking Out For Tooting felt important in the moment – like something significant was happening involving the mobilization of community and business groups. This might be in part because there are some very skilled facilitators in the group so it felt possible to bring something together.
In hindsight, Looking out For Tooting definitely looks like part of a CTP in the sense that this interest formed around neighbourhood planning from a diverse group of people / groups.
In terms of contributing to the goals of TTT their tag line is “making change how we live, where we live, in light of climate change.” The interviewee suggested that neighbourhood planning is fundamental to the first two of these: i.e. change how we live and where we live. The process is very much in tune with these two goals.
Transition activists are excited about the consultation because they can engage in the “how we live” question, and neighbourhood planning has a certain degree of financial support behind it. Although it won’t solely be focused on climate change, they will bring that into the room. They are excited by the possibility of a “divergent moment” where a range of different possibilities can emerge. Whilst some of these will form part of the neighbourhood plan, other projects might emerge too. They are also excited about the way in which it will bring more people into contact with TTT – to counter the tendency for everything to fall upon the shoulders of a small group of volunteers. But this is not about just ‘getting more people’. Instead, it is also another opportunity for people to get involved.
A key piece of learning is about the confidence to initiate processes and engage with the wider community. For transition activists uncovered how communities that are bound together by geography are up for coming together and for making change happen, and that is incredibly encouraging for TTT. For people are thoroughly interested in connecting.
A second lesson is about diversity in the broadest sense – not just ethnic, but also in terms of ideas and processes. If you have conversations with people and ask the question in the right way, the richness of feedback and different perspectives will only be positive. So, it is partly about how the process is framed, and about good facilitation. This can build more conversation whilst also showing the tangible mix of different opinions and views. Even if it leads to conflict in terms of disagreement, then it should be manageable because of the solid foundations.
A third learning point is that there should be a strong temporal dimension to the process. The interviewee drew parallels with the Atmos project in Totnes which is a community led regeneration project. The Atmos consultation process involved exploring the history of the site as well as the future:
“So thinking about what we cherish from the past; what are our concerns or issues for the present, before thinking about the future.”
So respecting the journey of a project from the past to the future feels important and they have adopted that kind of thinking in the process so far.
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