Newenden Case Study
We have a passion and expertise for working with community groups, and empowering them through design workshops. This experience has led us to develop a series of different formats and tools, which respond to what a community group needs for a particular place.
Sometimes a community needs to be guided in thinking expansively about the potential of a site or a more established group may need to upskill, to understand the key urban design principles at their fingertips.
Newenden Village 2050:
We were asked to run a community workshop in Newenden, "the smallest village in Kent", where a local land owner was looking to understand how they could give back to the village with a development to support the long term sustainability of the village.
We held these events with an open invitation to everyone from Newenden Village. The workshop was as an opportunity to listen to residents to understand what the community wants and needs, to move Newenden to a more sustainable future.
The workshop was held in the village pub, on a Sunday early afternoon, as this was considered to be the time when most people from the village would be able to attend.
At the workshop, our objectives were to:
- Create an atmosphere for discussion, with a focus on why and for whom any development (on Rother Valley Farm, or outside the Farm) might happen.
- Understanding from the residents what the community wants and needs, for a more sustainable long-term future.
- Asking, as a group, how could the Rother Valley Farm site help provide for the village?
- Gain a deeper understanding of the village and the site.
Our hopes for the Workshop were to provide an accessible and transparent process, where we could listen, understand and begin to discuss people’s interests, hopes and fears for any development in the village.
A website has been created to gather further feedback, and with a link to view and download the summary report.
