Three days left to have your say on council’s planned ‘focused set of priorities’

There are just a few days left for members of the public to take part in a consultation outlining the council’s priorities for Wrexham over the next 12 months.

The ‘Council Plan’ looks to “define a clearer vision” for the local authority’s four themes –  economy, people, place and organisation.

It includes improving the local economy, reducing homelessness, a fit for purpose road network and a master plan for a smaller town centre,

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.

The consultation, which runs until July 24th, poses a series of questions on the four objectives, including how the economy in Wrexham can be developed, promoting well-being, improving education, ensuring everyone is safe and creating a modern and resilient council.

Once complete the findings of the consultation will be used to “help shape the future of the Council Plan and budgets.”

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

Developing the economy

– 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.

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

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