Developing Potential

I thought I would capture some of my writing & publications that have appeared elsewhere all in one place, so first up, here are the 3 Estate Regeneration resources I co-authored with Paul Raven. They were created by Local Trust, a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions who were fabulous to work for.

These resources are the culmination of a research project with 5 Big Local areas that I worked with from around 2017-2020. They include a recommendations paper aimed at local and central government, a guide to estate regeneration for communities, and a set of case studies focusing on the experiences of the Big Local groups who took part in the research.


Recommendations paper

Local Trust resource description:

Developing Potential: Lessons from community experiences of regeneration’, gathers the experiences of five communities in England and calls for a radical change of practice to bridge the divide between local residents and development organisations leading regeneration projects. Describing an imbalance of power between those living in a place and the organisations regenerating it, the report says that current practice is driving poor outcomes for everyone. 

Also published on the Local Trust site


Guide to estate regeneration for communities

Local Trust resource description:

Understanding how residents can gain from regeneration and development, rather than lose out to it, is a challenge shared by Big Local areas and communities across the country. In trying to overcome this challenge, it became clear that accessible and clear information on how best to engage, influence and negotiate for the benefit of communities was very hard to find.

This how-to guide demonstrates how local communities can become actively involved in regeneration and help bring about positive changes for their area. Combining insights and observation, this guide has developed five ways to gain from regeneration and development. They are not quick or easy fixes, but they may help areas establish and sustain their community’s voice and visibility throughout the regeneration process.

Also published on the Local Trust site


Estate Regeneration case studies: learning from 5 areas

Local Trust resource description:

These five case studies were developed through workshops, conversations and email iterations with Big Local areas and local regeneration contacts, between June and December of 2018, and represent the experiences and facts related to regeneration and
development, in the areas, at that time.