While Bath is known for being relatively affluent, our patch also has significant swathes of low socio-economic areas and social housing. We hear much less from these areas so we are actively trying to redress the balance in our coverage.
Speaking to people living in Bath’s only real high-rise building, which is run by major local housing association Curo, seemed a good place to start.
As the building is private, I couldn’t just walk in and knock on doors. I ended up trying nearly every one of the 55 or so buzzers. Despite visiting for a couple of hours at a time in the early evening when you would expect many people to be in, only a handful answered.
In the end I only managed to interview three people – two of whom invited me into their homes.
I was concerned that this wouldn’t be enough to write a rounded story. But the random selection ended up being a representative cross section, with an elderly couple, middle-aged lady and young man - and they all gave me some very strong lines.
I was told of isolation, a lack of community, and problems with anti-social behaviour such as drinking, drug-use and urinating in public spaces.
My own first-hand observations added to the story.
With such a negative overall impression, I didn’t wish to alienate the community further, so I made sure to also include the positive things they said.
I have a good relationship with the press officer at Curo Housing Association, which is a major player in Bath.
I approached him in a very non-confrontational way, showing a genuine willingness to hear about the positive flipside to these comments. So rather than a combative response, we had a really helpful discussion about the community action taking place which I could use to add balance to the story.
I contacted the chair of the new residents’ association Love Snowhill to see if she wished to present a different view – however she said my story was an accurate reflection of the situation.
So despite writing a rather hard-hitting story, I didn’t burn any bridges and maintained my relationships.
The story was recognised as valuable local journalism.
“Credit where credit is due. This is a good piece, and the sort of thing the local paper should be doing more of,” one reader commented.
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