Whitchurch Town & Parish

Plan Implementation Committee

 

Notes of meeting held on Tuesday 28^th November 2011

at 7.00pm in Whitchurch Civic Centre

 

In attendance:

 

Sue Simpler SS                          Chair

Sue McKeon SM                         Better Welcome / Whitchurch web-site

Mike Gallacher MG                     Transport

Simon Lyon SL                          Chamber of Trade

Therese Hickland TH                  Chamber of Trade

Peggy Mullock PM                      Whitchurch Town/Shropshire Councillor

Gareth von Dinther  GvD             Whitchurch Town Council

Zoe Dean ZD                             Assistant to the Town Clerk

David Torrens DT                       Whitchurch Canal Trust

Elaine Griffiths                            Voluntary Sector

Kim Marchbank-Smith KM-S        Allport Juniors – Sport Forum

George Candler                          Area Director, Shropshire Council

Nicki Young NY                          Community Action Officer, Shropshire Council

Peter Dunhill PD                         Shropshire Way Officer, Shropshire Council

Tony Clay                                   Observing – Monitoring Group

 

Apologies:

 

Don Pearce   DP                Whitchurch Cricket Club – Sport Forum

Howard Prince                  SJT

Steve Chapman SC           Blackberry Fair

Gerald Dakin GD              Shropshire Councillor

Gerald Moss GM               Whitchurch Walkers

                                                                                                    ACTIONS

1. 1.Welcome, apologies and introductions. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and as there were new people around the table, everyone introduced themselves. Apologies were accepted as above.

 

1. 2.Notes from the previous meeting (1 November 2011).

 

        Para 5.6. Fair Trade Town – Judy Bellingham, Fair Trade Town group,        is still waiting to hear whether Whitchurch have retained Fair Trade     status. The Town Clerk’s office to report to next meeting.          ACTION ZD

        Para 9.3 – Transport – Railway – Mike Gallacher is still waiting further         information. Nicki to send invitation to next Shropshire, Telford &      Wrekin, Marches Strategic Rail Group.                                    ACTION NY

        Amendment to previous notes:

• Amend ‘Simon Lyons’ name to read Simon Lyon.

 

3.     Plan Implementation Committee Configuration.

 

a. Treasurer’s Position – The Town Council have allocated £1,000 to the PIC. The former Town Plan Steering Group has a bank account, of which Sue Simper is a signatory – the other signatures need changing, if anyone would like to become a signatory please e-mail Sue Simper. The Chair had some sad news to report, the former Treasurer, Councillor Ruth Leach has passed away, and therefore the position of Treasurer was vacant – Sue Simper asked the Committee members to think about taking on this position and to come to the next meeting with someone wiling to volunteer.

 

1. b.Committee membership –

• the Constitution states that the PIC should comprise of 15 members, this now means that the membership is full, but that other people can be co-opted onto the Committee for time-limited projects.
• Formation of Sub-Groups – the Committee were asked to think about how to set up the sub-groups to deliver the different themed actions from the town plan (original diagram of how this might occur is attached for your information).   Should these sub-groups be formed? They should not duplicate groups which already meet. Everyone was requested to bring proposals to the next meeting for a discussion on how the groups could work .                                                                    ACTION ALL

     Find out who key people are and get a network set up?

     No group will have a single model, the aim is get people working   together – groups will need to network to discuss overlaps.

 

1. c.Monitoring Group – this group will be set up to make sure action takes place – to review and evaluate. The recommendations of Community Led Planning http://www.acre.org.uk/our-work/community-led-planning is to have a Monitoring Group who:

• stands outside the process
• checks that the public knows what is happening
• feeds back to the PIC public opinion about the Action Plan
• keeps the momentum, regarding the Town Plan, alive within the community
• help get more people involved, which in turn can attract more funding.
• can think ahead to the future.

 

• Check with Jacky Vaughan on the progress made so far with regard to setting up the Monitoring Group                                           ACTION SS

      -      Members to include: Town Plan Steering Group members,                Town Councillors not on PIC, members of the community who           have knowledge of the Town Plan.

• The Monitoring Group will not replicate what the PIC is doing.
• The Monitoring Group will be an objective voice as to what is happening and will reflect back community opinion and monitor community perspective.
• The Town Plan states (page 4, second para): An independent Monitoring Group will be established with the specific role of ensuring that the momentum is not lost and that there is real progress in delivering the Plan as a whole. An additional role of this Group will be to provide support and encouragement to the Town Council and other organisations in implementing the Plan.
• The Group will actively look at what outcomes promised by the Town Plan to see if the community think that they have been achieved.
• The PIC will explore how to let the community know about actions achieved – the Monitoring Group would let the PIC know if the objectives are right, because the Plan is organic and will change.
• The proposed Constitution for the Monitoring Group is attached for your information – (attachment).
• There was a suggestion to call the group the Communication Group not the Monitoring Group.

 

        d. Community Feedback

• a draft press release was circulated to the meeting for comment – this       will be circulated to the local newspapers; Whitchurch Herald, North      Shropshire Chronicle, Shropshire Star and the Whitchurch Gossip.                                                                                        ACTION NY
  • Information on projects has also been placed in a High Street shop      window opposite the Civic Centre - the current displays are about the      Footpath and canal projects.
    • http://www.whitchurchshrop.org.uk is the web-site which hosts the Whitchurch Town Plan, a form will be added to encourage people to leave feedback on the Town Plan (this form will use Survey Monkey) – it will accept comments that have been vetted – organisations who have achieved objectives listed in the Action Plan will be requested to mention the Town Action in any media coverage. This web-site will be linked to the new town web-site.                                                          ACTION ?  Anyone wishing to add information to this web-site can pass details to Sue McKeon or Nicki Young                                           ACTION All
    • Sue McKeon to update progress matrix and pass to David Torrens                                                                                      ACTION SM
    • Simon Lyon and David Torrens to meet to discuss the web-site

                                                                                        ACTION SL/DT

 

4.     Walkers are Welcome Accreditation

 

1. a.Action 16.11 Initiate a “Walkers are Welcome” weekend event in Whitchurch which would benefit businesses in the town.
2. b.A Walkers are Welcome Fact Sheet was distributed by Peter Dunhill (attached for your information).
3. c.Whitchurch Walkers are keen to progress the Walkers Are Welcome initiative.
4. d.There are 6 conditions to becoming a Walkers are Welcome town – listed on the fact sheet attached: 500 signatures of support from local residents, visitors, accommodation providers and traders – Therese Hickland has said she will take this back to the Chamber of Trade, with a view to the town traders and accommodation providers having lists for people to sign in each venue to demonstrate a network of local support.

                                                                                             ACTION TH

1. e.The Town Council will need to formally endorse the Walkers are Welcome          ACTION PM
2. f.Whitchurch will need an active Parish Paths Partnership Group.
3. g.Adequate marketing of Walkers are Welcome status – ensure local interest in Walkers are Welcome initiative; stimulate local transport; ensure Walkers are Welcome can be maintained; organise an annual Walking Festival/weekend.
4. h.Organise a public meeting to stimulate local interest in the initiative – send out           ACTION PM & GM
5. i.Need to address Sunday opening issue when working towards getting Walkers are Welcome status.
6. j.Peter Dunhill to e-mail Walkers are Welcome fact sheet to NickiACTION PD

                              (Post meeting note: Fact Sheet attached for information)

1. k.Raise profile of network of footpaths around Whitchurch.
2. l.Get Whitchurch more ‘walker aware’.
3. m.There is a plan to bring the Shropshire Way to link with the canal footpath in Whitchurch. The path is being re-routed from Prees Heath to Raven, across by-pass, to Brown Moss and into Whitchurch town centre, then out to the canal.
4. n.Promote local walking routes/offer on a regular basis in the local press:

• Walks in and around the town
• Out of town walks

 

1. o.Recommendation to become a Walkers are Welcome destination within a 6 month period. The following people are requested to feedback the information to their respective groups and to report back to PIC at next meeting:

• Whitchurch Walkers                                                          ACTION GM
• Chamber of Trade                                                            ACTION TH
• Better Welcome                                                                ACTION SM
• Beechtree Community Centre                                            ACTION SM
• Sports Forum/Active Whitchurch                                     ACTION KM-S

 

5.     Environmental Report

 

1. a.MTRP Canal Footpath Project

• Improving signage, footpaths, interpretation and furniture.
• Footpath links related to getting to Brown Moss
• Production of new walks book

 

b.  Canal Extension

• 3D drawing of planned canal basin by Greenspace completed
• Planning application on the basis of the design being draw up
• One local community objection
• All comments received from public at Blackberry Fair were positive

 

c.  Put displays about both projects into the shop window opposite Civic      Centre.

 

1. d.Canal Trust

• has received £4000 from the Town Council to pay for the planning application
• the total cost of the project is just under £500,000
• funding opportunities are being sought, David Torrens was asked if the Canal Trust would like support from PIC funding group?
• Kim Marchbank-Smith offered help with finding contractors

 

6.     Young People

 

1. a.Gareth von Dinther, Town Councillor, will organise a round-the-table discussion with youth leaders and young people on the action points highlighted in the Town Plan.
2. b.Stonham. Gareth von Dinther and Nicki Young have visited Stonham and had discussions regarding the possibilities of siting a youth café on the premises at Dodington. They will meet Stonham Manager and Stonham Buildings Manager in the new year to discuss this project further.
3. c.Town Parks. The Town Council Parks Committee are carrying out a review of Blackmore Grove – local opinion has been canvassed and comments made that the community do not want a duplication of the play equipment that is in Deermoss Park – a sensory play areas for toddlers has been suggested.
4. d.Youth Council. Gareth has had discussions with the Youth Council/Parliament with a view to starting a Youth Council for Whitchurch.
5. e.Shropshire Playbus are applying to the Home Office, through the Bronze Level Tasking structure, to bring the playbus to more venues throughout Shropshire.
6. f.Queensway. Nicki Young is working with Queensway Recreation and Residents Association to upgrade their existing play area – a community consultation event is taking place on Monday 19^th December, 6pm until 7.30pm in the Dodington Hotel, everyone welcome.

 

7.     Events

 

1. a.Party in the Park. Next meeting of the Party in the Park group is on 7^th December at 7pm in Rendezvous, the group are still at the early stages of planning the event.
2. b.Christmas Lights Switch-on. All agreed that there was a great atmosphere in the town and that it was a fantastic night. Well done to Zoe Dean for helping to organise the event.
3. c.Christmas Market – Saturday 3^rd December.
4. d.Premises License. A meeting had been held with Tony Mantle, West Mercia Police Licensing, to discuss a premises license for the whole of the town, held by the Town Council, and to look at creating universal public liability. The Town Council will be discussing this and are looking to hold 3 x premises licenses, one each for:
   1. 1.Town Centre
   2. 2.Jubilee Park
   3. 3.Civic Centre

 

8.     Local Economy/Town Centre

 

1. a.Street Scene Feedback. Unfortunately the photographs shown to Street Scene were unlabelled, therefore sites could not be identified, but it was felt that the majority of photographs were of private down-pipes. Members of the Committee highlighted that there were areas within the town centre which needed cleaning on a more regular basis, at the moment areas are cleaned using the following criteria:
   1. i.labelled areas within the town on a map (bronze, silver, gold)
   2. ii.depends on footfall

 

If Town Council view that areas need to be changed on the cleaning rota, then a conversation could take place. More precise reporting of littered spots within the town centre, ie, location, time of day and date, was required. The community need to be encouraged not to drop litter, starting with schools – Nicki Young to speak to Gillian Burvill, Environmental Enforcement Education Awareness Officer.                        ACTION NY

 

b.  Empty Shops.

 

1. i.
2. ii.
3. iii.

 

9.     Sports/Active Whitchurch Forum.   The group linked their first meeting with the North Shropshire Sports Club Development evening held at the Leisure Centre on 17 November. Members from Whitchurch Cricket Club, bowling club, Allport Football, Hollies Tennis Club, Whitchurch Hockey Club and the leisure centre attended. Further clubs and activity providers should be invited and Zoe Dean, Whitchurch Town Council, handed around a list of Civic Centre activity providers to the meeting, unfortunately no contact details could be provided because of data protection. Therefore, Kim Marchbank-Smith will write to each activity provider at the Civic Centre, explain what the Active Whitchurch Forum is about and ask them to make contact (Nicki Young to draft letter).   ACTION NY

                                                                                                 ACTION KM-S

One of the aims of the Forum is to provide one unified voice to attract more sports funding to Whitchurch, this is a benefit as large funders, such as Sports England, prefer to speak to larger groups/body of clubs rather than individual clubs.

 

10.   Tourism.

 

1. a.Web-site – is moving forward. Volunteers are now ready to start to input data and Nicki Young is liaising with Shropshire Council Customer First manager to organise training for staff to enable them to input data and use the What’s On calendar. David Torrens is to be added to the web-site distributionACTION NY Protocols for how the site is to be administered are being drafted.
2. b.Roundabouts – agreement in principle from Highways Dept, Shropshire Council to put wild flowers on all the roundabouts on the Whitchurch by-pass. Payment for this project will not come out of the Highways budget, but will be sourced elsewhere. Installations (sculptures) can only be placed on the two larger roundabouts – at The Raven, Prees Heath and by the Esso Garage on the Wrexham Road junction. It was suggested that the PIC pursue planning wild flowers on all the roundabouts as a first phase of the project, liaising with Highways, who will instruct contractors to do the work.
3. c.Event Signage. No event signage can be placed within the highway boundary in any 60mph zone, because of highway safety to car users and removing drivers’ eyes from the road at fast speeds, there may also be potential danger to individuals who will be changing the event signs. Highway Dept have plans to increase the 30mph zone in Whitchurch town centre all the way to the by-pass boundary and Highways have said that event signage could, in principle, be placed at each entrance to Whitchurch within the 30mph zone. Again, Shropshire Council cannot pay for these signs, but if they are placed on the highway, land controlled by Shropshire Council, then it would be expected that the Council’s logo would be placed on the sign frame. Erection of the signs would have to take careful consideration of the surrounding environment, whether there are many signs in the location already, do the signs affect the landscape, etc. Planning applications for this signage may have to be submitted, for more information please see www.planningportal.gov.uk - PPG13 – A Guide to Better Practice – Transport.

 

11.   PIC Finance. See para 3a above.

 

12.   Any Other Business.

 

a.     Transport Update. Mike Gallacher will attend the next Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Marches Strategic Rail Group meeting on 31^st January 2012 with Gerald Dakin. Nicki Young will pass information on community transport organisations to Mike Gallacher.                                   ACTION NY

 

b.     Voluntary Sector. The Chair welcomed Elaine Griffiths, Manager Homestart North Shropshire & Oswestry, to the meeting. Elaine will be the voluntary sector representative on the PIC. Sue McKeon to send Elaine Griffiths a copy of the Town Plan.                                           ACTION SM

 

c.     Area Director. George Candler, Northern Area Direction, Shropshire Council attended the meeting to observe and commented that a genuine community-led plan was now delivering actions and it was good to see that momentum had been achieved. George said that he had attended a seminar run by Roland Gee (son of Cecil Gee) called “Grow for Gold”, which is aiming to match retired people with new start-up businesses to offer support, with business plans, marketing, etc – Shropshire Council are developing a Shropshire-wide pilot scheme. There will also be a seminar for landlords of vacant retail units to discuss innovative ways on how to let vacant retail units.

 

d.     Date of Future Meetings. The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 20^th December at 7pm in Whitchurch Civic Centre. It was agreed by all present that future meetings will be held on the last Tuesday of every month, starting at 7pm, with a view to closing the meeting by 8.30pm. Therefore the meeting in January will be Tuesday 31^st January 2012 at 7pm.