Westmill Neighbourhood Plan
Across June and July of 2025, we gathered feedback from Westmill residents in a variety of ways, including surveys, ideas boards, the map tool, eight Neighbourhood Action Week events, and The Big Door Knock.
We’re pleased to share an update on the progress we’ve made so far based on your feedback, which will play a key role in shaping the draft Neighbourhood Plan for Westmill.
When we asked for your thoughts on the five key areas we had previously identified as being important to your community, you told us that they didn’t fully reflect what matters most (scroll down to see what those five key areas were). Based on what you said, we’ve now revised these areas and updated the actions, which are outlined below.
These actions are still in the planning stage and may evolve further, but we want to keep you informed as we continue to develop them.
Anti-Social Behaviour and Safety
| You said… | What we’re doing… |
|---|---|
| There's a lot of anti-social behaviour across the neighbourhood. | We’re working closely with the local Police team to understand known areas of concern and explore opportunities for CCTV in the local area where possible. If you feel unsafe in your home or community and need support, please let us know here. |
| There is a lack of lighting that encourages anti-social behaviour. | We’re looking to meet with Hertfordshire County Councillors to explore what options might be available to improve lighting across Westmill. |
| You'd like a review of the CCTV across the estate. | We're looking to work closely with our Development team and North Herts Council (NHC) to review the effectiveness of the cameras. |
Community
| You said… | What we’re doing… | |
|---|---|---|
| You'd like more affordable youth activities. | We're currently reviewing what's already available in the community and how we can best support local groups and the community centre to communicate these activities. | We’ve also partnered with the Better Health Bus team to bring free health and wellbeing support to the community. You can meet them at Westmill Community Centre on Tuesday 10 February, from 10:30am to 3:45pm, for NHS health checks, stop smoking support (including free vape kits), and more. Everyone’s welcome, and it’s completely free! Take a look at the poster below for more information.  |
| You're not sure what's on in your local community, or when. | ||
| You'd like more community events and residents' meetings. | We’re exploring ways to empower residents to host community events, led by residents for residents. We also hold a Joint Steering Group for the redevelopment of John Barker Place around eight times a year at Westmill Community Centre. If you’d like to find out more, or how you could get involved, click here. | |
Grounds Maintenance and Cleanliness
| You said… | What we’re doing… |
|---|---|
| There is a lot of litter and fly tipping. | We’re working with our Estates team to identify key areas where resident-only locks may be suitable. We’re also exploring the use of friendly reminders across the neighbourhood to encourage everyone to dispose of their waste properly. |
| The bin areas in communal blocks are overflowing and aren't being collected frequently enough. | Although bin collections are managed by your local council, we’ll share this feedback with North Herts Council and continue working closely with local partners to help improve the area and keep your neighbourhood a great place to live. |
| The cleaning standards in communal areas and blocks are not meeting residents' expectations. | We're working with our estates team and partners on this. You can find more details about what we're doing here. |
| There are a lot of overgrown areas that aren't being maintained. |
Transport and Speeding
| You said… | What we’re doing… |
|---|---|
| There isn't enough parking around John Barker Place. | We’re working with our development team to explore the possibility for adding more parking bays in the next phase of building. You can stay up to date with progress at John Barker Place here. |
| There are a lot of speeding cars, particularly near Mattocke Road | Our neighbourhood team is looking to arrange a meeting with the County Councillor, local Councillors, and the local police team to talk about concerns around speeding on the estate. |
| There isn't enough pedestrian crossings across Westmill, and I find it hard to cross the road safely. | Our neighbourhood team is planning to meet with the County Councillor to discuss and recommend suitable locations for zebra crossings and pedestrian island crossings. |
June - July 2025
A huge thank you to all Westmill residents for your involvement in the recent Neighbourhood Action Weeks and Big Door Knock visits!🙏🏼
Between 23 June to 17 July, we hosted various activities in Westmill, focusing on the five key areas that residents identified as most important to them.
Through 800 Big Door Knock visits, community centre drop-ins, and a number of events as part of our Neighbourhood Action Weeks, here's what we learned from you...
Previously...
Between April 2023 to March 2025 we 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, complaints, transactional surveys and more.
Here are the five key areas that were highlighted:
- More communal cleaning and maintenance
- Bin areas
- Lighting concerns
- Residents meeting
- Parking.
We asked residents to let us know if they agreed with the five key areas above, or if they'd like us to focus elsewhere.
Through hotspot data, we also found that many residents have previously raised concerns about damp, mould, and condensation, as well as anti-social behaviour. We included questions on these areas too, so we could be confident we’re focusing on the issues that matter most to you.
If you have damp or mould in your home, report it to us immediately on 0330 343 0016 or use the button below.
A message from Joe Williams, Executive Director of Customer Services
"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."
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.
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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.
