A PROJECT which recruited residents to help improve two Burnley estates after a series of riots has received national acclaim.

The partnership approach adopted in the town after disturbances in 1992 invited local people to work on planning crime prevention, family support and other services.

The projects tackle problems seen and identified by local people.

An evaluation study of the scheme on the Stoops and Hargher Clough estates, together with a similar project in Coventry, has found that the partnerships bring better community health services, more help for families, environmental improvements, safer streets and less vandalism.

Evaluation of the projects was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Burnley and Coventry Councils, the Department of the Environment and the Tudor Trust and was carried out by Priority Estates Project.

Study co-ordinator Sarah Gregory said: "It took time to build up the necessary levels of co-operation and trust between the various partners in these projects. "But the resulting action plans have led to real changes in the way that local services are provided with a stronger emphasis on customer care.

"With strictly limited resources, local service partnerships have brought about action to tackle problems like anti-social behaviour and lack of facilities for parents and children that could not be addressed by a single agency.

"They are identifying the gaps in existing services that need to be filled."

By providing better services, she said, partnerships could improve the quality of life for individuals living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

She added: "They cannot solve poverty but have a valuable part in wider plans for regeneration including training and job opportunities and action to improve the housing stock."

The partnership approach marked a shift from the "troubleshooting" approach to planning, development and prevention.

Highlighted is the innovative project in Burnley to target known offenders while offering support to stop offending behaviour,

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.