Knutsford Town Plan

Knutsford Town Plan

THE RESULTS OF THE KNUTSFORD TOWN PLAN SURVEY CAN NOW BE SEEN BY *CLICKING HERE*.

Town Plans are a form of community-led planning aimed to give those living and working in rural and semi-rural villages or towns, like Knutsford, a way of deciding for themselves how they would like their own town or village to develop over the next five to ten years.

A Town Plan is not produced by the Council but by volunteers from the local community. The process is led by a Steering Group, consisting of volunteers, who are independent of the Town Council but include a small number of representative Town Councillors. The Steering Group works separately from but alongside the Town Council in a collaborative and co-operative way.

After two public meetings in 2007, the Steering Group was formed in February 2008. It now meets regularly each month in Knutsford Fire Station. The Steering Group is very grateful to the Fire Service for offering this facility as part of their commitment to the project and this is also keeping meeting expenses to a minimum.

Who's involved?

The members of the Steering Group and their allocated roles are as follows:-

Laurie Burton, Chairman:
Councillor Francis Aldhouse CBE, Deputy Chairman:
Dick Warwick, Treasurer:
Janet McCappin, Secretary & Contacts Coordinator:
Bob Quin, Communications & Publicity Officer:
Bill Gore, Public Consultations & surveys:
Derek Empson MBE, Data Coordinator& Work Programme:
Councillor Stewart Gardiner, Senior citizens:
Councillor Peter Coan, Youth issues:

Specialist advisers to the Steering Group, though not members of it, are:-

Peter Woodhouse, Adviser on Fund Raising
Amy Bishop, Adviser on Heritage & Tourism
Inspector Kate Woods, for Community Safety
Sue Noyes, Cheshire East & Cheshire PCT
Diane Smith, Knutsford Town Manager MBC and Town Plan Advisor
Bron Kerrigan, Cheshire Community Action Town Plan Facilitator

FIRST STEPS

An initial consultation took place at the public open meeting in the Leisure Centre in June 2007 when a number of topics for the consultation were identified. Mini surveys to identify further the topics for consultation have already been conducted and the results are being collated. The Steering Group has begun contacting a wide range of groups, bodies, organisations and individuals, within the Knutsford, including schools, businesses, clubs, groups and societies.

The topics identified to date have been organised into 6 major groupings:

1/ Facilities Development strategy.
2/ Community Services strategy.
3/ Environment and Heritage strategy.
4/ Economic Affairs strategy.
5/ Public Transport, Highways and Footpaths strategy.
6/ Traffc flow and pedestrian movement

The information gathered will be collated by the Data Co-ordinator under the six headings and then five or more ‘working’ will study the results and present their findings to the Steering Group. From the findings the exact format of the questionnaire will be devised.

This site and the Town Plan site will be kept up to date throughout the whole process so that you can know what is happening.

As a reader of this website, you have already shown an interest in this project and if you wish to make a suggestion, comment or volunteer to assist in any way – possibly by working on one of the focus groups, please CLICK HERE to send us an email.

What is a Parish Plan

A Parish Plan is a critical and in depth survey of a community carried out by the community itself. The aim of the survey is to collect the views and opinions of the people who live and work in that community and from this information find out how it sees itself developing over the next 5 to 10 years. An action plan is then devised based on the community's views, which identifies what steps the community needs to take to move itself forward from its present position to achieve its vision for the future of the community.

Who produces it?

The community itself, working through volunteers, carries out the survey, creates the action plan and implements the actions. It is the Town Plan Group that steers and drives the project, usually in collaboration and co-operation with the Town Council, the Borough Council and a range of other agencies and partners.

How is it produced?

• Initial community consultation.
• Information and data gathering.
• Data analysis.
• Formulation of action plan.
• Implementation of actions.
• Ongoing monitoring and review.

The Steering Group is determined to establish through wide community consultation, engagement and involvement, the primary needs and concerns of the people of this town and to see them fulfilled through the creation of a credible Town Plan for Knutsford and some of the activities of the group over the last six months are detailed below.

We have already received a Parish Plan Starter Grant from Cheshire County Council and are now in process of applying for full funding from the County Council through a Parish Plan Development Grant. We are appreciative of the willing support we have received from the Knutsford Town Council.

This site will be amended regularly and kept up to date so that readers, local residents and businesses can follow the progress that is being made.

For more information please visit The Town Plan website