Morice Town Home Zone

NAME Morice Town Home Zone
LOCATION Morice Town Home Zone covers nine streets two miles from the centre of Plymouth
MANAGING ORGANISATIONS Plymouth City Council – Morice Town Community Advisory Group (Government’s Home Zone initiative)
WEBSITE www.homezonenews.org.uk

USED TO BE…
A deprived inner city area with high rates of crime and vandalism and a distinct lack of quality open public space.

STORY
In 1998 Morice Town was selected as one of nine national pilot projects for the Government’s Home Zone initiative. Home Zones encourages resident groups to change the way that streets are used, by designing them for people and not just for traffic.

Judith Devismes, of Morice Town Community Forum, was initially sceptical when the council said there was money available for environmental improvements, but changed her mind when she sat down with a road engineering consultants and landscape architects to discuss possibilities. £2.3 million has been spent on the project over four years.

NOW A…
In place of straight roads lined with cars, the streets have been redesigned as shared spaces populated by plants and people. Low bricked, slate topped planters double up as benches, providing a meeting point for residents. “Along Charlotte Street and Herbert Street there’s a herringbone pattern printed into plastic resin. It’s really colourful, with grey, red and yellow,” says Judith. The streets are now used for public gatherings, both formal and impromptu. Morice Town hosts an annual street fair in August and a carol service at Christmas.

WHY IS IT SPECIAL?
The Home Zones scheme is initiated by the Government and delivered on the ground through a partnership of Plymouth City Council, the local community and stakeholders. This is beneficial in that the improvements made are the ones that most suit the local people and, because the residents make the decisions, a sense of civic pride and community cohesion is achieved.

"I've lived in Morice Town for 20 years. I know the area and the houses pretty well. The difference is that now I know who lives in them as well."

"I remember one day, soon after the planters had been put in, walking out of my house one morning and seeing the streets full of people, bedding in plants that they had bought"

Judith Devismes, Morice Town Community Forum