A
RESIDENTS’ VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF CANTERBURY
This note
summarises progress with a new project which aims to develop a Vision for the
future of Canterbury based on the views of local residents.
The Residents’ Vision Project was initiated by the Canterbury
Society, but is being undertaken jointly with as many local residents’
associations as possible. Many local
people have said that they feel that new developments in the city seem to be
imposed from above and do not reflect the priorities of those who live
here. The aim of the Vision project is
to develop a more pro-active, bottom-up Vision for
the city, which would reflect the views and hopes of a wide range of local
people. It is also anticipated that it
will influence the City Council as it prepares to adopt a new Local Plan by the
end of 2012.
The first stage of the
project
was to organise two all-day workshops. These were run by a London organisation (Glasshouse
Community-led Design) with the aim of explaining all the factors to consider
when developing a community led vision. At the end of the workshops an interim
Steering Group was set up to take the project forward. First ideas for the
Vision identified many different topics, but focused on four main themes:
·
Housing, including
housing for students and social housing
·
Traffic, transport and
pollution
·
Green spaces and the
environment
·
A balanced economy and
employment
Other topics to consider within the Vision included:
culture, education, facilities for young people, governance, heritage, leisure,
physical infrastructure, retail, social inclusion, social infrastructure,
tourism and the urban environment.
The next
stage involved the interim Steering
Group producing a questionnaire which was put to the people of Canterbury via a
stall in the High Street and a large public meeting (May 22nd). The
questionnaire was designed to seek out all the characteristics of Canterbury
about which residents were most concerned. At the public meeting a permanent
steering committee was also formed to take the Vision to its conclusion. At
this stage (mid June 2012) the steering committee is holding its second
meeting.
The future
timetable for the Vision involves
the steering committee finalising the main thematic areas for the Vision, and asking
for committee volunteers to select a theme which they will write up. These
themes will be reviewed and a draft Vision will be created, which will be sent
to selected Residents’ Associations for their comments and eventual approval.
By October 2012 a final Vision document should be ready which will be available
in hardcopy format, and be on the Canterbury Society website. It will also be
in a Power Point format so that it can be shown to groups, to Councillors and
perhaps to developers. Once the Vision is complete it should be kept up to date
as a guide to informing readers on the residents ideals for their city.
For
further information phone Geoff Meaden on: 01227 752275.
