Posted: Mon 17th Jun 2019

Council launch survey to ask you what key priorities should be to get ‘clearer vision’ for Wrexham

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Monday, Jun 17th, 2019

Improving the local economy, reducing homelessness, a fit for purpose road network and a master plan for a smaller town centre, all features in a review of the Council Plan.

Members of the public are being invited to take part in a consultation on the plan, which outlines a series of objectives within the themes of economy, people, place and organisation.

The current plan was approved back in 2018. However last year councillors raised concerns that the plan had become too broad for the council to deliver with a shrinking budget and less resources.

As a result there has been an attempt to “define a clearer vision” for each of the themes, with members of the public now being invited to have their say on the priorities for the next 12 months and in the future.

Wrexham Council says it is “also thinking about how we can use these priorities to inform financial decisions (including where we might make cuts, and where we should be investing)”.

The consultation runs until 24th July and the findings will then be presented to councillors in September. The people of Wrexham are told this will then help shape the future Council Plan and budgets.

The consultation itself poses a series of questions on the objectives within the plan, such as how the economy in Wrexham can be developed, promoting well-being, improving education, ensuring everyone is safe and creating a modern and resilient council.

It is possible there are several routes through the questions, however the final ‘about you’ section on our dummy run was labelled “Question 37” so it is a commitment of your time, however you can’t say you have not been asked.

During the consultation, participants have the chance to rank the importance of each topic and whether they agree that the council is “focussing on the right activities under this priority”.

A brief synopsis of what the local authority is doing and its plans for the future is then detailed. For example in terms of ‘developing the economy’ the key priorities for 2019/20 include:

– The North Wales Growth Vision and Growth Bid – working with the North wales Economic Ambition Board to secure UK and Welsh Government commitment to invest £240 million to deliver a wider package of interventions valued at £1 billion to boost the economy in North Wales
– Master plan a smaller town-centre with a mix of retail, residential and entertainment, considering the actions required to increase activity and occupation of units to increase the offer in the town-centre
– Capitalise on the economic impact of football on the county borough by working with partners to increase the role that the football club has in the community and schools, as well as supporting the improvement of Mold Road and building the profile of Wrexham through football
– Promote local entrepreneurship by working with partners to support business start-ups and existing businesses, and ensuring land is available where there is demand
– Ensure that transport infrastructure is appropriate to support the economy (e.g. road and rail)

Longer-term priorities include a review of the two indoor markets, making Wrexham an events destination and develop a mixed-use regeneration scheme at the long-term vacant Bridge Street site.

There is also the chance to offer feedback and alternative suggestions for the proposals put forward by Wrexham Council.

A summary of some of the targets listed within the consultation, include:-

Ensuring a modern and resilient council

– Agree plans to focus and reduce our office accommodation
– Balance the budget without affecting the resilience of our key services
– To lead, at a local and national level, on the development and delivery of an improved Contact Centre service in Wrexham with the potential to be rolled out nationally across Wales
– Fully embed use of the Welsh Language across the organisation and actively promote its use

Ensuring everyone is safe

– Work with partners to tackle the incidence and perception of anti-social behaviour and substance misuse
– Develop appropriate service provision to reduce the prevalence of homelessness
– Continue to invest, in order to increase and improve the quality of our own housing stock, and improve housing standards through planning, licensing and enforcement
– To complete our new social housing developments in Plas Madoc and Nant Silyn and procure the services necessary to deliver further phases of council house building in the County Borough, which will include provision for older people and those with vulnerabilities
– Formally evaluate the work of the successful NPS (New Psychoactive Substances) pilot project to enable WCBC and partners to adopt best practice for substance misuse issues in a sustainable way

Improving secondary education

– Support schools in preparation for implementation of the new curriculum from 2022
– In partnership with other services such as health, support schools and young people to improve physical, mental and emotional health through an integrated package of support
– Work with key partners to create an environment that enables young people to raise their own aspirations to ensure that they can fulfil their learning and career potential

Promoting good health and well-being

– Complete a review of libraries, community and customer services, and begin to implement the recommendations from this review
– Refocus the ‘Together in Wrexham’ grant scheme to deliver on good health and well-being outcomes
– Improve the experience of informal carers through the new carer’s contract with NEWCIS
WCBC to achieve dementia friendly status and to support Wrexham to become a dementia friendly town
– Continue to work with carers and young carers to ensure people are fully informed and receiving the support they require
– Focus on improving people’s mental health and working with regional partners to create an improved urgent care system for those in mental health crisis

Improving the environment

– Improving the timeliness and quality of reactive road repairs to minimise risks to the travelling public, ensuring the road network is resilient and fit-for-purpose
– Continuing the upgrade of street-lighting to ensure energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions
– Reviewing and improving the efficiency of existing bin collection rounds, and influencing behaviour change in order to develop a long-term approach to reviewing our waste service and meeting future statutory demand
– Introducing more electric vehicle charging points across the County Borough
– Considering our use of council fleet vehicles (including the use of electric vehicles)
– Reviewing the way our Household Waste Recycling Centres work

A further two options – reducing household waste collections and charging for garden waste collections – are also mooted. Both were rejected by the independent / conservative coalition at last year’s budget process, despite a fairly receptive response in last year’s difficult decisions consultation.

The consultation is open until July 24th. You can take part in the Council Plan consultation here.



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