94-98 St Albans Road

Client: Berkeley Homes

Borough: Watford Borough Council

Date: 2018 - 2020

Tags: Masterplan, Mixed-Use, Planning, Community Engagement

Comm Comm UK was appointed to lead the communications and community consultation for the regeneration of a brownfield site in the heart Watford, close to Watford Junction and its train and bus links to London, Hertfordshire and the north.

The project is the first site coming forward in the adopted Watford Junction SPD Masterplan. It will set the tone for the overall masterplan area and provide the majority of housing for the area on highly accessible brownfield land. There was a need to demonstrate the change but also the benefits the project would bring through targeted engagement and wider communications.

The objectives of the project were to create a sense of place. It was to be somewhere that new residents will enjoy living in, the existing community will want to visit and walk through as a safer and more attractive route to and from the station. New shops, businesses and workshop spaces will thrive from footfall and working in excellent facilities with appealing surroundings. The new school will give pupils a happy and healthy start in life and it will be highly sustainable with low parking and provision of sustainable transport alternatives.

Throughout consultation we spoke with a varied and diverse group of stakeholders who had numerous and often contrasting requirements of the project. It was vital to explain the societal shifts occurring at a national level. This includes explaining complex policy, such as delivering high density new housing in taller buildings to prevent greenfield development, driving down car ownership and usage, decreasing levels of young people learning to drive, the demographic change in demand for apartment living from young people and retirees, and the overall dire need for regeneration of brownfield sites for new homes and economic drivers across the UK.

The planning application was successful at committee and Comm Comm UK is now delivering ongoing media relations support ahead of starting the construction communications.