Ware Town Council s3

WARE TOWN COUNCIL

A Meeting of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group was held on Wednesday 4 September 2013 at 7.30 pm in the Council Chamber, The Priory, Ware when the following business was transacted.

Present: Cllr Ian Devonshire – Ware Town Council (in the Chair),

Cllr John Wing – Ware Town Council

Jill Rowlinson - Ware Town Council

Mick Standley – Save Our Green Spaces

Mike West – The Ware Society

Jan Wing – Ware Town Partnership/ CVS

Keith Batchelor – Raynet/ Town Watch

Barry O’Reilly – resident

Jo Radcliffe – Guideposts

Emily Lewis – resident

Cllr David Andrews – Hertfordshire County Council

Alex Curtis – Ware Youth Town Council

Margaret Nash – Ware Society

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr RozStandley – Ware Town Council, Dave Pearse – Save Our Green Spaces, Jan Stock – Wodson Park, Mark Montgomery – Herts Police (CPDA)

2. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING

Minutes of the meeting held on 12 June were agreed as a correct record.

3. AREA TO BE COVERED BY THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

The area could not yet be designated as the sites to the North of Ware had not yet been considered by the SLAA. This was now expected to take place in Autumn or Winter. There was a discussion on the number of planning applications being submitted for flats whereas the general feeling was that houses were required rather than flats. The proposal for Gilston Park was also discussed because if this was approved this could fulfil some of East Herts requirements for new homes.

4. CONSULTATIONS

Progress so far

The following consultations had taken place:-

Ware U3A

Ware Society

Ware & District Photographic Society

Ware Wine & Beer Circle

Ancient Order of Forresters

The following organisations were interested in having a consultation:

Ware Bowling Club – Ian Devonshire and Jill Rowlinson to do, dates to be agreed.

Inner Wheel – Jan Stock to do, 21 October.

Friends of Ware Priory – Ian Devonshire and Barry O’Reilly to do, dates to be agreed.

14 completed questionnaires had been returned so far and a summary of responses had been circulated.

Next Steps

It was envisaged that questionnaires would be collected during consultation sessions but most people had wanted to take them away. We therefore had to rely on people bringing these into Ware Town Council or posting them at their own expense and so the response rate had been poor.

The idea of these group consultations was to enable the group to come up with a “vision”. The outcomes of our workshop session were to be used as starting point to take to local groups to find out their views on the statements and ideas.

The groups consulted so far had been of similar ages and backgrounds. There was a need to widen the consultation to make it more representative. It was suggested that, in order to do this the questionnaire should be much simpler and accompanied by some brief information about the Neighbourhood Plan. It should also be on Ware Town Council’s website, or a link via Survey Monkey, perhaps with the short animation mentioned at the last meeting. An example of a shorter questionnaire had been circulated for comment. There was a discussion on the revised questionnaire. It was suggested:-

· that answers should all be tick boxes to make analysis easier

· employing a consultant

· adapting the surveys in the Ware Benchmarking report or asking Action for Market Towns to update this and/or do a different survey

· using a scribe or facilitator at each consultation meeting.

It was noted that Ware Society had emailed out 250 of the existing questionnaires to their members so hopefully more would be received.

It was agreed:

· to continue with the existing questionnaire

· to email this to Emily Lewis and Jo Radcliffe

· to write to schools offering to carry out the consultation in schools.

5. SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES IN NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING GRANT

It was confirmed that an application for professional support could be submitted at a later stage.

It was agreed to apply for grant funding for the following:

Public Engagement

Video link for website £225

Survey Monkey 1 year membership £299

Projector (approx.) £400

Printing:-

- tri-fold leaflet for every household quotes to be obtained

- posters

- banners

Assistance from Action for Market Towns for extension of benchmarking and/ or facilitation – quote to be obtained.

Mapping

Software to assist with preparing maps for public consultations and preparation of plans. - £1,290.

6. HIGH STREET/ TOWN CENTRE

As agreed, the Town Council had commissioned Action for Market Towns to prepare a set of recommendations from the Benchmarking Report carried out in 2011. The recommendations had now been received and circulated to the group.

One of the recommendations was to consider how the town centre runs as a business. Jan Wing mentioned Retail Revival, a training initiative for retail business and that she would be willing to help if this was carried out. It was agreed to put this to the Town Council’s Tourism, Leisure & Amenities Committee for consideration.

There was discussion on the market and the possibility of having additional market days or speciality markets.

Cllr Andrews would be discussing parking with East Herts Council as he did not feel that the current provision was right for Ware.

It was noted that there were currently no units available for pop-ups in the town.

6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Wednesday 6 November at 7.30 pm at Ware Priory.