The Community Spaces sub-group within the Hartlepool Poverty Truth Commission is focused on identifying and improving public spaces across Hartlepool to make them safe, accessible, and welcoming for everyone.
Through conversations with our community commissioners, civic and business leaders, and conversations with the wider community, we’ve mapped out the current issues, including neglected green spaces, limited funding, concerns about anti-social behaviour and more.
Our group is working to address these barriers and explore ways to reclaim, improve, and create shared spaces that can create community connection and improve what residents see and how they feel when they open their front door. Here, you’ll find updates on our progress, from developing partnerships to exploring sustainable solutions that ensure these spaces meet the needs of Hartlepool’s residents.
Our first Sub-group meeting
The first Community Spaces sub-group meeting was held on the 9th of October at Greenbank in Hartlepool, where our HPTC commissioners met alongside other local stakeholders who had an interest in this area to think about what we already know about community spaces, what help or solutions are available, what opportunities we have and our next actions.
It was a productive meeting where we divided into three groups to explore where Hartlepool stands with its community spaces and our vision for the future. Together, we mapped out ongoing initiatives and projects working on community spaces across Hartlepool, starting to shape our own approach to identify where to begin and which areas need the most improvement. We also proposed using our ‘Say it with Flowers’ campaign in the New Year. This would involve placing flower sculptures around town, each with a QR code for community members to scan and suggest areas that need attention, feeding directly into an online map.
This group will meet again on the 27th of November to progress our actions going forward.