Monday 7th December 2015 at Platt Bridge Community Zone
Present:
David Baxter, Carl Bridden, Tom Hickson, Barry Hampson, Tracey Williams, Lisa Davies, Cllr Eunice Smethurst, John Ball, Judith Smith, Ricky Parkinson, Andrew Meadows, Kenny Flint, Alan Houghton
Agenda Items
1 – Introductions
- Barry Hampson, Chair of the Forum, welcomed everyone to the meeting.
- Barry announced that, due to recent ill health, he will be stepping down as Chairperson of the group.
2- AECOM Technical Support workshop
- Alan Houghton, from AECOM, discussed the Technical Support on offer. Alan got the group to discuss what they would like from the Neighbourhood Plan. The group discussed the current Community buildings and services that were available within the Ward and whether these were still suitable or just not being marketed correctly. Everything will be underpinned by the Neighbourhood plan.
- The idea of completing Community Asset Transfers was raised, with the former Tramlines building on Templeton Road being one building that was discussed.
- A Land Use plan was discussed and should be developed. An Economic Plan would also be developed.
- The group also discussed the geography of the Ward and how this will impact on the Neighbourhood Planning. Would each village in the ward need a community hub to tackle a particular issue or would just one Ward wide building be needed?
- David discussed the recent survey that has commenced with 148 replies so far. David to send to Alan a copy of the findings from these so far.
- David fed back on the feedback from the Minecraft sessions that have commenced with Year 5 students at Platt Bridge Community School.
- Alan to send through to David the notes from the meeting and issues raised.
3 – Working Groups
- No updates
4 – Consultation Session Planning / Surveys
- David had 1000 printed and will distribute these across the Ward to Community groups. So far 148 completed surveys have been returned.
- Denise had passed some surveys on to the Secondary Schools. Hindley High replied with 18 students offering feedback.
- The group aim to link in with Wigan Council’s The Deal in Action that will be in Abram Ward in August 2016.
- David discussed a meeting he had with Andrea Smith and Paula Richard from Wigan Council’s Young People’s Team, in relation to the development of a Youth Cabinet to link into the Neighbourhood Plan.
- David updated on the Minecraft sessions at Platt Bridge Community School. These were going well, but now need to look at offering the sessions in the Primary schools in the other parts of the Ward.
5 – Wigan Council’s Allocation and Development Local Plan update
- The group discussed the recent event held at Platt Bridge Community Zone by Wigan Council’s Planning team. The event showcased the areas that have been identified for possible Housing opportunities and for potential development. Approx 13 people attended on the day, although there was some negative comments from the event in that some members of the community tried to attend after 6pm only to find the Council staff had left earlier than the scheduled 7pm finish.
6 – Website updates
- No updates
7 – Any Other Business
- Cllr Smethurst discussed Section 106 monies and how spend for this has been identified.
Date of next meeting: 11th January 2016 at 6.30pm at Platt Bridge Community Zone