About the program
Blacktown City Council is proud to have partnered with Transport for NSW for the Safer Cities: Her Way Program, which aimed to make public spaces including streets and transport hub precincts feel safer for everyone, especially women, girls and gender-diverse people.
As part of the program, Council delivered a Her Way project, consisting of a range of trial public space improvements and events guided by community input. In 2023, we engaged with over 160 women, girls and gender diverse people about their experiences of using public spaces around the Blacktown and Mount Druitt Town Centre transport hub precincts. Through a series of walks and online surveys, the community provided ideas about what would make these spaces feel safer.
Based on community input, the below locations were chosen to trial interventions and events:
- Blacktown Station Plaza
- Jim Simpson Lane
- Sections of Main Street.
What we heard and how we responded
The table below summarises our trial interventions and events.
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Community told us …
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Our trial interventions and events …
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You wanted clearer directional signage
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You would feel safer if there was more lighting
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You want more vibrancy and colour through artwork
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A cleaner and better maintained space would make the space feel more welcoming
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we increased our cleaning program
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we refreshed the taxi rank
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we delivered new seating in Jim Simpson Lane and Blacktown Station plaza area
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we installed new planter boxes along Main Street
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More outdoor activities and events would make you feel safe
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Beats and Bites lunchtime sessions were held along Main Street
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Blacktown community food event, Blacktown Food Market, was held along sections of Main Street
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Project evaluation
In 2024, we engaged with 30 women, girls and gender diverse people about their experiences in public spaces with our trial interventions and events. The table below summarises our evaluation of all trial improvements.
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Our trial interventions and events ...
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Community told us …
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- we installed new, clearer directional signage (wayfinding)
- we removed redundant signage
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we increased our cleaning program
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we refreshed the taxi rank
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we delivered new seating in Jim Simpson Lane and Blacktown Station plaza area
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we installed new planter boxes along Main Street
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there remained concerns over littering and cigarette butts, particularly around Blacktown Station Plaza
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new single seating options were well received
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new planter boxes made the space more inviting and vibrant
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Beats and Bites lunchtime sessions were held along Main Street
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Blacktown community food event, Blacktown Food Market, was held along sections of Main Street
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We will use the feedback received through the Safer Cities: Her Way project to help inform the future design and delivery of public spaces including streets and transport hub precincts, within our City.
FAQs about the Safer Cities Program
What is the Safer Cities: Her Way Program?
Safer Cities: Her Way is a collaborative partnership program between Transport for NSW and Blacktown City Council to improve perceptions of safety for women, girls and gender diverse people when travelling to, through and within public spaces such as streets and transport hub precincts. Blacktown City Council is 1 of 10 Councils that has received a $1 million grant over 18 months trial and test how to make public spaces feel safer through temporary and permanent improvements and events. Each improvement or event has been developed through engagement with the local community and designed to respond to local needs and reflect local identity and character. The project will be evaluated for their effectiveness and insights will be used to build the case for longer-term change in Blacktown.
Why are we engaging local women, girls and gender diverse people as part of the program?
Perceptions of safety can impact how people, particularly women, girls and gender diverse people, choose to move through our cities and towns. This can affect access to services, education, employment and leisure activities. Insights from Transport for NSW’s NSW Safer Cities Survey Report showed that 3 in 4 women would walk more if they felt safer in public spaces.
We heard from local women, girls and gender diverse people on their feelings of safety through online surveys, walkshops and co-design workshops, where participants expressed feeling uncomfortable and unsafe in public spaces around Blacktown and Mount Druitt. Poor perceptions of safety are a major barrier to women, girls and gender diverse people using and enjoying public spaces and limiting access to services, leisure and work across the Blacktown LGA.
What are the phases of the Blacktown Her Way project?
Phase 1: Community Engagement and Co-Design
The first phase focused on consulting and co-designing with the community and key stakeholders to understand the experiences of women, girls and gender diverse people using public spaces in Blacktown and Mount Druitt Town Centre and hear suggestions for improvements. In this phase, we conducted workshops, online surveys and a series of walkshops. The insights gained helped to inform trial improvements intended to improve the feeling of safety and create more appealing and accessible places that respond to local needs.
Phase 2: Project Execution
This phase involves the delivery of improvements and events based on community feedback. The chosen locations are Blacktown Station Plaza, Jim Simpson Lane and parts of Main Street. The trail improvements and events include more greenery, public art, improved maintenance and more.
Phase 3: Project Evaluation
During this stage, the sites chosen for the improvements and events will be re-evaluated which includes understanding the success of each trial project and identifying areas for improvement.
About our Safer Cities public art program
In response to the feedback for more colour and vibrancy, we engaged with female and gender diverse artists from Western Sydney to deliver a series of temporary public art interventions within our project site. You can find out more about the art interventions below. For more information please visit, Blacktown Arts - Safer Cities: Her Way.
Jim Simpson Lane
‘Welcome Home’ 2024
- PVC window film, PVC banner and shade cloth
- We Are Studios Artists Ebony Wightman, Adrienne Proud, Kiri Smith, and Miah Tito-Barratt
Curatorial agency City People commissioned Blacktown-based disability art organisation, We Are Studios, to co-design and create artworks to bring vibrancy and personality to Jim Simpson Lane.
We Are Studios hosted a series of co-design workshops with students and community partners from the Australia Catholic University, Blacktown to explore the theme of safety. Through these workshops, the common theme of home emerged inspiring the series ‘Welcome Home,’ now on display in Jim Simpson Lane.
The artwork uses digital drawings that echo the unique domestic architecture of Blacktown and the diverse yet transcultural creature comforts of home, from coffee and tea to slippers and pot plants.
The PVC window film and PVC banner components of this artwork have now been decommissioned. The shade cloth remains on exhibition in the laneway.
Main Street Precinct
‘Safety Blanket Signs’ 2024
- Digital print on PVC mounted on aluminium
- Text: Sweatshop writers Winnie Dunn, Natalia Figueroa Barroso, women of Blacktown
- Illustrations: Leila Frijat
- Graphics: Kareena Bridges
Winnie Dunn and Natalia Figueroa Barroso from Sweatshop Literacy Movement were commissioned by curatorial agency City People to lead a series of writing workshop for women, girls and gender diverse members of the Blacktown community to produce short texts based on the theme of safety. Excerpts from these texts have been selected to create poetic street signs printed with a mix of memories, reflections and words of wisdom. The reverse of some signs reveals charms taken from designs by artist illustrator Leila Frijat, whose graphics are inspired by the texts produce in the co-design workshops.
This artwork has now been decommissioned.
‘In my bubble / Bursts / Baraka (blessings) / Shine your light’ 2024
- Digital illustrations for light projections
- Leila Frijat
Commissioned by curatorial agency City People, Illustrator Leila Frijat has designed 4 illustrations inspired by the co-design workshops led by literacy agency Sweatshop. These illustrations are illuminated as gobo projections along Main Street Blacktown.
This artwork remains on exhibition along Main Street.
Banner project
‘The Banner Project’ 2024
- Printed fabric
- Photography: Caterina Pacialeo
Throughout community engagement, we heard a strong call to elevate women, girls and gender diverse people’s representation within our public spaces, through creative and celebratory means.
In response to this, Blacktown Council, in collaboration with Blacktown Arts, have produced the ‘The Banner Project’ which exhibits the portraits of 21 local women of significance on civic flags cross our CBD. The portraits were captured against the backdrop of the bustling cultural spine that is Blacktown’s Main Street.
This artwork has now been decommissioned.
