Pioneering place-shaping in Birmingham
3 December 2024
Do you know the history of the Castle Vale estate in Birmingham?
I must confess that I didn’t know anywhere near enough about this brilliant example of place-shaping before we went to visit Pioneer at the end of November.
As is customary for our member visits, Matthew Walker and I met at the train station, jumped in a taxi, and headed off to meet Simon Wilson and his team.
Castle Vale is a community that was transformed in the late 80s and early 90s. It is a powerful and relevant case study in how to do regeneration in a way that means the effects can still be seen decades after the original investment.
Simon talked a lot about legacy and how Castle Vale continues to thrive today in no small part due to the organisations and structures that were created as part of the original transformation. The focus was not just on the physical regeneration of the homes and buildings, though that was significant, but they also thought about the health and education of the people who live in Castle Vale.
The strong emphasis on partnership working continues today, to the point that Pioneer now provide space for the local policing team to work from when it looked like they would no longer have a presence in the area.
It is also clear that Pioneer continues to prioritise its place-shaping role and is proud of the Castle Vale community.
Not satisfied with providing their own employment and support programmes, Pioneer are now trying to get a train station into the area, so they can better connect their residents with employment opportunities elsewhere in Birmingham.
They took on and run a football stadium because they could see its potential as a community asset and didn’t want it to close and become a blight on the local area.
We were lucky enough to have a quick look round The Sanctuary, a community centre owned and run by Compass Support, the charitable arm of Pioneer. You name it, you can do it at The Sanctuary. It is right in the middle of the estate and not only welcomes people in for a range of activities but is also officially designated as a ‘warm space’ and local people are encouraged to come in, keep warm, and have a chat with the brilliant staff who work there.
Castle Vale is the sixth most deprived ward in Birmingham, but Simon was right when he told us you wouldn’t know it when walking round the community. I am sure this is because Pioneer think about what is right for the place and the community, even though they don’t own all the homes in the area.
There is so much to take from the experience of Castle Vale and our day in Birmingham. I was embarrassed to find out that when I asked Simon who was telling their story there was already a book on the subject.
Communities like Castle Vale show what is possible with the right investment and a long-term approach to regeneration. Organisations like Pioneer also show what it means for a housing association to take their place-shaping role seriously.
We will be doing what we can to make sure politicians understand the Castle Vale story and our members can learn from the experience and work of Pioneer.