The people consultation phase was an important start to the process, beginning well before the confirmation of the NDC funding.
A special New Deal edition of Hull City Council’s Housing Department Newsletter told tenants: “The Government is now asking for your opinions on what needs to be done to breathe new life into Preston Road …. The bid will have to show which area has been chosen, what its’ problems are and how all interested groups, especially local residents, have been involved in developing a plan of action.” The process was helped by the formation of the
Preston Road Consortium, pictured.
September: The national launch of New Deal for Communities and Hull was one of 17 urban areas of
England invited to bid for £800 million. The Hull Daily Mail wrote: “In Hull, the city council has
already earmarked Preston Road as the estate most desperately in need to investment or, indeed, a
completely new start. Tinkering with major social problems will not be enough. The Government has
thrown down a challenge to Hull.”
There was a “participatory appraisal” of the NDC area by Hull DOC (Developing Our Communities). The results of interviews with 495 residents over a three-month period called “What the People Say..” helped form the basis of working groups and citizens’ juries.
