2011 Burntwood Town Strategy

Burntwood Town Council Burntwood Town Strategy a framework for the future of the Burntwood communities March 2011 Contents 1. Context 3 2. Rationale 3 3. Building the strategy from the grassroots upwards: the approach 4 4. The Burntwood place: a summary of its economic and social character 8 4.1 Social and community characteristics 8 4.2 The local economy 14 4.3 The planning context 16 5. The community and businesses; views on Burntwood as a place 18 5.1 The local community 18 5.2 Local businesses 22 5.3 The consultations: a concluding point 24 6. Burntwood: summarising the area through an underpinning strengths, 25 challenges and opportunities enhancement (SCOPE) analysis 7. The basis of the strategy: from priority issues to feasible actions 29 7.1 A vision for Burntwood 29 7.2 Key objectives for the strategy 30 7.3 Priority action areas 32 8. Summary 51 Acknowledgements 51 Contact details 51 Appendix 1 Priority issues emerging from the direct consultations 52 Appendix 2 List of consultations 54 2 Burntwood Town Strategy: a framework for the future of the Burntwood communities 1. Context This document sets out a strategic plan for the town of Burntwood and its constituent communities. It has been developed within a framework of established aspirations and apparent potentials and thus reflects the realistic priorities of the town. The strategy has been built from the perspective of the community, as well as the numerous agencies and organisations that have a remit for or interest in Burntwood, and the business community. It has been developed and produced by Localecon Associates working closely with and on behalf of Burntwood Town Council. 2. Rationale The main purpose of the strategy is to set out the aspirations of Burntwood for the future, identifying priority issues for action coupled with areas for long-term achievement. In this sense it is viewed as a blueprint for the future, but one that crucially is based on local (and locally stated and agreed) needs and aspirations. The rationale for its development is twofold. First, whilst the process of area development planning and policy is in a period of major institutional flux, there is an expectation of greater autonomy and enhanced competitiveness through the shift to a new localism. There is thus a need for a clear strategy to aid clarity of decision-making and promote locally established priorities, facilitating the maximum involvement of local people in decisions on their future quality of life. Second, the strategy development process, equivalent to the production of a parish plan for Burntwood, is an important community engagement element for the Town Council in its acquisition of quality status. That said, whilst the strategy is a parish plan equivalent, given the size, complexity and location of the town, it is viewed as an aspirational, strategic outline that is tailored to the needs of the Burntwood communities. In summary, the functions of the strategy are to: • clearly set out community aspirations; • encourage local people and businesses to get involved in creating a sustainable and contented community; • establish a blueprint for Burntwood’s future; and thus, • provide a basis for decisions on projects and priority areas for attention. 3 3. Building the Strategic Plan from the grassroots upwards: the approach The approach to developing the strategy involved a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, implemented in a series of interlinked stages that were designed, in combination, to provide a comprehensive assessment for the SCOPE analysis and identify and prioritise common themes for the strategy. The key elements of this programme were as follows. Background review and data analysis Relevant data, reports, documents, data sources and strategies, including drafts of the Lichfield Core Strategy 1, other relevant documents from the Town, District and County Councils, and the existing West Midlands Economic Strategy, as well as data from Staffordshire Observatory and the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007, were assembled and reviewed to gain a background view of Burntwood. This served two purposes. First, it formed the initial basis of the economic and social characteristics analysis which was supplemented by consultation-based information gathered from a wide range of professionals in areas such as business, property, leisure, and health in the later stages of the programme of work and provided a basis for the development of the appropriate surveys for use throughout the consultation process. Second, in reviewing particular sections of the Core Strategy and the detail in its available topic papers that focused on Burntwood as a set of communities with Lichfield District 2, it facilitated an up-to-date policy review and thus a context for recommending actions through the Strategy. Community consultations This stage of the work involved a series of activities to gather views from members of the community in Burntwood. The full range of activities included: • Community survey, distributed by Councillors to a sample of homes and via a series of post office, library, leisure and health centre locations; • Publication of the community survey in the Burntwood Newsletter; • Attendance at various community events in Burntwood, including Burntwood Wakes and the Forward Action Burntwood summer event; • Focus Group work with young people in both secondary schools and at Burntwood Youth Centre; and, • Use of Lichfield Council’s Voice it! on-line consultation facility to publicise and receive comments on the strategy’s draft vision and objectives. 1 Lichfield District Core Strategy: Shaping our District, Consultation Draft, November 2010 2 Topic papers in the built environment, healthy and safer communities, natural resources, and sustainable transport were available during the strategy development process 4 A self-selecting sampling method was used to establish locally recognised strategic issues within the community and to commence a process of prioritisation which would then be taken forward for further consultation at open meetings. This activity generated two hundred detailed responses across the full range of age and gender groups.3 Additional evidence on community views was accessed through data from consultation exercises such as those conducted by the PCT, Community and Learning Partnership (in its Business Planning activity in January 2010), and Lichfield District Council (Section 106 consultations, July 2010; and Residents’ Survey, February 2010). Business consultations The team consulted with a selected sample of twenty-five businesses in the town’s retail and business zones, again gathering information on the issues and problems facing the town and some of the potential solutions and activities that could be progressed by the Town Council from the perspective of the business community. Partner agency and organisation consultations This stage of the work obtained an in-depth, locally embedded view of the situation and potential in Burntwood from the perspective of key local agencies and organisations. In-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted with a range of individuals representing local partner agencies that have a remit of some kind for Burntwood. These included key public, private and voluntary sector bodies, as well as representatives from Lichfield District Council and Staffordshire County Council, generating around thirty responses. In addition, consultations were held on a one-to- one basis with all Town Council members. The purpose of these was to gather information on the key issues and problems facing the town and to capture ideas on potential projects and activities. Visioning and prioritisation events In Autumn 2010, the team facilitated three events - one in each of the three core communities of Burntwood, Chase Terrace and Chasetown - to enable all partners and other interested people to discuss the vision and prioritise the themes for the strategy. The findings of the initial strategy development work were presented, along with the emerging themes, vision and project ideas and participants were asked to comment on the priority areas for action and to respond to the suggested medium-long term goals for the area. A final feedback event was held in February 2011 to review the draft strategy and to help further prioritise areas for action. 3 Around 34% were under 24 years, 41% in the 25-64 category, and 25% over 64. 5 The overall ethos In general, the approach adopted in completing the visioning and strategy development work was based on a number of tenets. These were that: • the work should be built on a bottom-up basis , drawing on grassroots community, business and partner views on the positives, negatives and potentials for the Burntwood area, blending selective available data with the (qualitative) details of local views; that, • the vision, associated strategy and actions must, be feasible and realistic , setting out project areas that, within the constraints of resources and capacities for involvement might be attained, • flexible in its ability to adapt and respond to new challenges and potentials as they might emerge over the next ten years, and that, • it should firmly recognise the need to add value and to build from existing and planned actions and activities in the area. That said, it was also clearly established that, • in considering the medium to long term, the strategy should be genuinely aspirational and willing to work towards change that is supported by the community but currently outside of envisaged parameters. Combining the development stages The basic approach used in building the strategy is set out in Figure 1. As shown, this comprised a series of stages, developing an approach, and taking actions, that are clearly based on the views of the local community, local businesses and partner agencies. The stages involved the establishment of priority issues, the formation of a vision for the area over the next 10-15 years, the setting of key strategic objectives, and finally proposed actions to help progress the vision and objectives.

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