Phone app helps create safer spaces

BETWEEN March and May this year just over 130 women, aged from 10 to 67, used the Right to the Night app identifying 305 locations in Ballarat’s CBD.

70 places were considered safe by the women while 235 were mapped as unsafe spaces.

The phone app, easy to download, encouraged women and girls to identify and comment on their impressions of public spaces in the CBD.

Ballarat Mayor Councillor Samantha McIntosh said the council was pleased with the response to the project.

“Using digital technology to attract response for planning outcome is something that probably hasn’t been used in this capacity before,” said Councillor McIntosh.

This technology allowed anyone at anytime, anywhere in the CBD, to drop a pin on a location on the app commenting on their experience felt at the time.

Safe sites were described as generally well lit, often in busy areas with lots of people and obvious security.

Topping the list of safe places was Lydiard Street North between Sturt and Mair Street and Sturt Street.

Unsafe locations were typically expressed as those where unpredictable people congregate, or in areas with poor lighting, unkept buildings or litter.

The Coles/Woolworths supermarket carpark precinct, followed by Little Bridge Street received the most comments as an area where respondents felt insecure.

The major comment listed on the website was concern over intimidating public behaviour.

Various locations across the city centre were thought to be unsafe because participants had either been personally harassed or intimidated there, or they had witnessed public drunkenness, drug-affected people or intimidating behaviour in those locations.

Because of the project seven recommendations aiming to make Ballarat’s CBD streets safer for women were launched last week at Ballarat Town Hall.

The City of Ballarat and its project partners – Federation University, Women’s Health Grampians, the Centre for Multicultural Youth, Australian Catholic University, Ballarat Community Health and Victoria Police – will use the data gathered by the app to inform decision-making around the design of safer public spaces within Ballarat.