May/Jun 2024

36
South Woodford Village Gazette
As the South Woodford Design Code continues to develop in earnest,
Pearl Arbenser-Simmonds reports on the work underway to create an
online map of community assets
A
Design Code is a collection of design
principles to help local areas
deliver beautiful and sustainable
places. It enables the community to lead
the way in shaping the design of their
own neighbourhood. The document
will eventually provide guidance for
development, covering the design of
streets, public spaces and buildings, as well
as spaces for nature.
The South Woodford Society and
Neighbourhood Forum are progressing well
in developing a digital version of the Design
Code for the area. We are in the process of
creating a new, user-friendly website so
residents, community groups, businesses,
developers and other interested stakeholders
can explore what matters to people locally.
It will also set out guidelines for new
development and our targets for 2040.
One of the things we are doing is mapping
community assets using the web-based
ArcGIS. A graphic information system (GIS) is a
spatial system that creates, manages, analyses
and maps all types of data. It is a complete
system for discovering, consuming, creating
and sharing geographical data maps and
apps designed to fulfil particular objectives. It
connects data to a map, integrating location
data (where things are) with all types of
descriptive information (what things are like
there). For example, Crossrail is using ArcGIS
to develop maps and data for public-facing
information.
Here in South Woodford, we are mapping
everything from street benches to tree canopy
cover to better understand what we have and
what we need. This digital map will document
our journey towards South Woodford as a
green and active neighbourhood, which
inspires people to walk and cycle, with a
vibrant town centre filled with opportunities
for the community to socialise.
With a series of road maps as our basic
tools, we have walked the streets within
our boundary, noting the locations of street
benches (including bus stop seats), cycle
storage and trees. The image here shows
a basic view of the work we have carried
out thus far. Over the coming weeks, we’ll
continue this process using online tools, as
well as our base maps, to document more
assets, such as cycle routes, cycle storage
and walking routes. Our aspiration is to
eventually map pretty much anything that is
of interest to our local community. You will
then be able to access this information via an
online map.
This project is a lot of work, so we are always
happy to have additional volunteers to
help. If this is something you would like to
support, please get in touch. We’d love to hear
from you!
For more information and to get involved,
email sowodeco@gmail.com
To advertise, call 020 8819 0595 or visit swvg.co.uk