Newquay town centre

Invitation to Press Launch - Town Plan Questionnaire

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  •  » Invitation to Press Launch - Town Plan Questionnaire

Mon 28th Jun

at Treviglas Community College Newquay on Monday 28 June commencing at 1pm. The event will be attended by Stephen Gilbert MP, Lady Helen Long and the Mayor of Newquay, Cllr Jill Bunt. Lady Helen will launch the event with a short address giving an overview of the work which has been put in to get the consultation to the stage it has and Stephen Gilbert and Cllr Bunt will be invited to say a few words in support of the initiative. All will be available for interview at the event and the photo opportunity will involve students from the college being at PCs with local people guiding them through, what will be, some of the first questionnaires to be completed ‘live’. In addition, co-ordinator of the project, Mark Goodman, will be available for more detailed information and interview if required.

A GROUP of sixth-form students from Treviglas Community College in Newquay are set to help launch a ground-breaking survey of life and living in the town and surrounding area on Monday June 28 as public consultation on the forthcoming Newquay Town and Parish Plan commences.

What makes this consultation process so unique is that it is the first time in the county that such a survey has been designed to be completed on-line with the organisers hoping that the vast majority of those who choose to give their views will do so by using the internet. From Monday the questionnaire can be accessed at www.newquaycommunity.co.uk.

That doesn’t mean anyone without access to the web will be left out though as ample printed copies of the questionnaire will also be available across town.

Leading the work is a Steering Group, chaired by Lady Helen Long, which represents a whole array of community based organisations and people. These include local residents, business, the Town Council, Residents Associations, Newquay Regeneration Forum and Chamber of Commerce and education establishments.

“By raising grant money, the group are now able to do the most important thing, which is to involve the local people in driving this forward” she said.

“Producing a plan for an area as large and diverse as Newquay is quite a task, so the Steering Committee have engaged a professional co-ordinator, Mark Goodman, to drive this process forward and this has proved most worthwhile as everyone else connected with the group are volunteers and obviously their time is at a premium.”

Mark has been involved in the consultation and construction of community plans in many towns across the region, from the Tamar Valley to Newton
Abbot, Lyme Regis, Swanage, Wellington and Frome and has been delighted to see how these documents have often proved to be a stimulus for action with
communities having a real say in the future of their environments.

Mark Goodman said “The survey deals with issues which local people will associate with and no doubt have some strong feelings about.

“These include the nightime economy, transport and health issues as well as the direction Newquay could take in the future as a holiday destination.”

“How communities develop depends to a huge extent on the voice which local people have and feel they have when it comes to decision making on issues which affect them” he said.

“Whilst developing a plan like this through consultation is only the start of a process it can, and has, led to communities becoming involved in stimulating projects and initiatives for their communities and directly influencing the result of decisions on planning for example.”

Mayor of Newquay, Cllr Jill Bunt sits on the Town and Parish Plan’s steering group but is keen to emphasise that the work is that of a voluntary group and is not, therefore, directly influenced by any council decisions or ideas.

“The group is very dynamic and being well led by Lady Helen. I know she and others are putting many hours of their own time into this completely freely because they believe in the importance of what they are doing for the future of the town.

“Obviously the Town Council are extremely interested in the findings of this work and I am sure it will help us and Cornwall Council move the area forward in a way which meets the needs and views of the majority of local people” she said.