Westmill Neighbourhood Plan
At settle we are relentlessly resident focused. Our aim is to provide homes residents are proud of and build communities that are welcoming to all.
Our 2030 plan has been developed by feedback from residents, colleagues, and local partners with priorities and commitments shaped by what we know is important to you and your community. Neighbourhood Plans empower you to have a say in how we deliver the 2030 vision in your area.
We believe that working together with residents and community partners can create real opportunities for positive change in your neighbourhood.
What you've told us so far
Over the past 18 months, we've received valuable feedback from residents, helping us identify the areas that matter most in your community. We gained this feedback through Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM's), Neighbourhood Action Weeks, Big Door Knocks, transactional surveys and more.
Here are the five key areas that have been highlighted:
- More communal cleaning and maintenance
- Bin areas
- Lighting concerns
- Residents meeting
- Parking
Do you agree with the five key areas above or would you like us to focus elsewhere. Tell us more by taking the survey below.
Why is your involvement important?
Your feedback ensures that Neighbourhood Plans focus on what matters most to you and your community, and helps us prioritise our resources to make sure we are meeting your needs.
We need your input to confirm if the proposed plans are heading in the right direction and to share what else you’d like to see in your neighbourhood. Your feedback will help us create Neighbourhood Commitments.
A message from Joe Williams, Director of Housing
"I encourage all residents to join in on these important discussions, whether at community events or here on settle connect.
Your participation is key to making sure the commitments we make genuinely reflect the needs of your community and local neighbourhood. Where we are not directly responsible for an area or service, we will aim to work with the partners to make improvements." — Joe Williams
Ways you can have a voice
📋 Take part in our survey and join the discussion
Have your say in our Neighbourhood Improvement Survey in less than 10 minutes!
📌 Use the map tool
Place pins directly on the map below to tell us what you like or where improvements are needed. Simply click on the map to drop a pin and add your comments. Your feedback will help us make the area better for everyone!
📆 Local events
Join us at local events or drop-in sessions. Check the calendar on this page to see what's going on and coming up.
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Communicating with residents – update from our May Big Door Knock
Every few months, we carry out our Big Door Knock, where colleagues, including members of our Executive
Team and Board, go out to neighbourhoods to talk to residents so they can tell us first-hand how they feel about their homes and how we’re doing as their landlord.In May 2024, we carried out our Big Door Knock in Westmill, Hitchin. Colleagues knocked on 798 doors and spoke to 202 residents.
We focused this Big Door Knock on our communication with residents. We can see from feedback from residents, particularly through the Tenant Satisfaction Measures, that communication is an area with higher resident dissatisfaction, so we used this Big Door Knock to understand more details and focus on the improvements we need to make.
What did we learn?
Why residents contacted us
We started our conversations by asking residents when they last contacted us, and how the communication was throughout that process. The reasons for last contacting us were:
- New repairs 40% (80 residents)
- General enquiry about our services 12% (25 residents)
- Following up on existing repair 11% (22 residents)
- Queries regarding damp & mould and water & heating were also reasons for contacting us from a smaller number of residents.
Communication
We then asked residents to rate the communication by settle during their last contact from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).
- 70% (142 residents) scored settle’s communication 7 or higher and expressing satisfaction when asked to give a comment as to why. Common reasons for this score were clear communication where their queries were directly answered, timely responses & regular updates.
- 12% (24 residents) remained neutral when asked. Delayed services & the time to get through to us were some of the reasons for this score.
- 18% (36 residents) scored communication during their last contact at 4 or below. Their dissatisfaction was with waiting times, unclear communication and their service request not being met.
Does settle communicate information residents find important?
- 62% (125 residents) felt we communicated information that they found important as they scored this question at 7 or higher out of 10. Respondents from this group felt they were kept regularly updated and the responses they received from colleagues were both timely and satisfactory.
- 21% (35 residents) were neutral (they scored 5 or 6 out of 10). This was due to slower responses and feeling that the information we provided was incomplete or lacking.
- 17% (35 residents) were dissatisfied (scoring 4 or lower out of 10). Reasons given were feeling that we didn’t respond quickly enough or our communication was unclear.
What can we do to improve?
115 residents responded to our question about where residents feel we can improve.
- 37% (43 residents) suggested increasing the frequency of communication whether it be throughout a repair or general service updates.
- 22% (25 residents) asked that we focus more on targeted communication regarding individual service requests.
- 21% (24 residents) felt it was difficult to get into contact with us either due to long wait times or the lack of a face-to-face channel of communication.
We will use these results as part of our ongoing focus on improving the communications we provide around service requests. Especially to provide more frequent and timely updates and make it easier to get in touch with us. Our May service update includes details on some of the ways we have made it easier to get in touch with us in recent months, including launching a ring back service, reducing the number of days it takes us to respond through our website, relaunching Live Chat and trialling video calling.
Everyone at settle has an objective this year to improve communication with residents. We have shared the results of this Big Door Knock with everyone at settle and emphasise this in one to one conversations with colleagues and our monthly team briefing with all colleagues.
Escalations
During each Big Door Knock we also check if the residents we speak to have new or existing service requests they would like us to raise or escalate. 46% (94 residents) had an issue they wished to escalate, leaving 54% (108) residents with no immediate concerns. The most common reasons for escalation were existing repairs followed by new repairs.
Have your say
If you would like to share your views on our services – you can tell us what we could do better or when we’ve done something well. More information about our Big Door Knocks is available in our How We Collect Feedback section.
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Planning permission approved for Phase 3 at John Barker Place
We’re delight
ed that final planning permission has been approved for Phase 3 of the development at John Barker Place in Westmill, Hitchin.The development of 48 new affordable homes will be a mixture of social rent and shared ownership homes on the site of Freemans Close.
We will keep local residents updated on the programme and when we hope to progress.
We are currently working with Lovell Partnerships to complete Phase 2 of the development which will include 48 new homes – 24 for social rent and 22 for shared ownership, with planned completion in early 2025.
Work to start on path & lay-by at Kingfisher House
Work will start on the new lay-by on Mattocke Road outside Kingfisher House and on the new footpath at the front of Kingfisher House on Monday, 8 April. Work will be carried out in both areas simultaneously with an estimated completion time of around three weeks.
Access will remain in place to the shop and takeaway via the block paved area which will also accommodate scooters and wheelchairs while the old footpath is dug up and replaced.
