In Sparkford, LiveWest residents have teamed up with our Community Connector, Shona Stone, to help reduce cars speeding in their neighbourhood – especially to protect the young people who regularly play outside on the green space.
Concerned about fast-moving vehicles near the development, parents encouraged local residents to get creative and design eye-catching ‘slow down’ signs for the community.
Now displayed across the development for everyone to see, this creative project has become a talking point in the area.
A LiveWest resident and mum to one of the young people who plays outside with her friends, said: “We all got together as all our children play together on this green bit out the front and cars sometimes go a little bit fast.
“This project helps with our children so they can still play outside together, and the traffic can be a bit slower coming around here too.
“It’s great that LiveWest has supported us... I think this it’s a good thing for LiveWest and for us because it brings us together in the community and it gets LiveWest involved. We can all come together.
“Since we’ve started this, we’ve had LiveWest come here, Shona especially, and we all get on great. It’s lovely to see you all here. We do all our events here too.
“All the kids have a picture on them (the slow down signs) and they’re really happy.”
As well as improving the road safety for the area, the residents have also created a beautiful community garden for everyone to enjoy.
Filled with plants and fresh vegetables, the garden brings neighbours together as they share produce and take turns looking after the space.
Our resident also shares the positive difference positive impact the garden has had. She said: “It was a case where we all moved in at the same time together and we all got on really well, including the people who have bought a house and rent from LiveWest.
“We saw this patch was barren and we all wanted to do something with it, so we all got together. We then started raising money and the rest of the neighbours got involved.
“When we have a little bit of fruit or veg, we put it out on the side for people to have.
“This year we decided to do some flowers in one and some potatoes, onions and runner beans in the other... it’s all to help each other and bring us together.”
Together, these projects show how community-led projects can make such a positive difference to our communities.