5.0 The Public Consultation Event - November 8th, 9th and 10th 2012 5.1 Context The purpose of the consultation event was to introduce the emerging Masterplan which had to date, evolved following the stakeholder meetings and discussions held with key members of community groups in Chippenham. It was also an opportunity to speak to the public face to face, answering any of their questions. During the event, the team had the opportunity to explain there were certain constraints affecting development of the site. This meant that not everybody’s ideas could physically be incorporated into the plans but there was a real opportunity to create a better environment for existing businesses at Langley Park, tenants of Hathaway Retail Park and the residents of Chippenham. 5.2 Constraints The Masterplan identified the areas for different uses on the site, taking account of constraints such as the position of Invensys’ main operating buildings, points of access, proximity to the railway line, the boundary with adjoining residential properties, topography of the site and costs of demolition and decontamination. 5.3 Advertising of the consultation events 5.3.1 Leaflet drop The consultation was advertised via a leaflet drop to approximately 500 dwellings in the immediately proximity to the site, see Appendix 5 for the leaflet drop area. Flyers (see below) were also sent to over 6,000 homes in Chippenham via the Wiltshire Star on 1st November. 25 5.3.2 Press Advertising A full page advertisement was taken in the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald on Thursday 25th October and on Thursday 1st November and a strip advertisement was taken in the ‘Weekend’ section of the Gazette and Herald on Thursday 8th November. There was also editorial coverage in the Gazette and Herald regarding the event on 25th October and follow up coverage on 14th November, see Appendix 6. 5.3.3 Radio Coverage Heart Radio FM recorded an interview with Wayne Locke, mentioning the consultation event. This was played on Friday 9th November 2012 26 5.3.4 Invitations The following were also invited to the November consultation event:- Chippenham Town Councillors Wiltshire Councillors for Chippenham Chippenham Area Board Members Wessex Chamber of Commerce Members Chippenham Chamber of Commerce Members Chippenham Vision Chippenham Local Traders Group Wiltshire College representatives Parents and students of Hardenhuish School Planning Officers of Wiltshire Council Leader of Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Development Control, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Wiltshire Council 5.3.5 Website A website, www.centralchippenhampartnership.co.uk, was set up in August 2012. This advertised the consultation event and all of the exhibition materials were available to view straight away. The website was regularly updated and contains all the material available to the public through the consultations. There have been 1 863 hits on the web site since it was created in August 2012 , initially inviting people to express their leisure preferences via an online poll, which continued throughout the consultation event. Top of the list was a cinema, with almost 80% ranking it as favourite. A bowling alley was next with 58%. The remainder of the options, hotel, restaurant, coffee shop and foodstore attracted a range between 27% and 21%. 26 people submitted comments on the proposal via the website. Some of these were general observations and suggestions 23%, with 54% supporting and 23% objecting. Objections were limited to traffic impact on the town centre. Strong support was expressed for the scheme in general, with investment welcomed and encouraged. Suggestions were made for preferred occupiers and sustainable designs. Support was given for improved links to the town centre with investment encouraged and welcomed. A reference was also made to linking with the proposed Chippenham Campus and development of Chippenham Community Voice. Objections concentrated on traffic and impact on the town centre. A summary of the responses made through the web site is included in Appendix 7 of this report. 27 5.3.6 Twitter CCP launched its Twitter account on Thursday 25th October 2012 and began following influential people and Tweeters in the region, tweeting a pipeline of CCP news and information regarding the consultation events through the following months. From October 2012 to the end of January 2013, CCP followed 943 twitter accounts/people and has developed 320 followers. There were 43 mentions and 45 retweets throughout the period. Most importantly, Twitter was used to respond to queries from the public regarding the proposals for Langley Park and Hathaway Retail Park. Examples of tweets include: 28 5.4 Venues for Consultation Events 5.4.1 Due to the potential widespread interest in this strategic allocation for development set out in the Council’s Core Strategy, it was decided to hold the consultation event in two venues over three days, St Pauls Church Hall and Chippenham Town Hall. 5.4.2 The availability of suitable venues influenced the timing and days on which the events could be held. It was also important to avoid clashing with any other significant community or Council events. Both venues have accessible parking and disabled access. Directional signage boards were erected outside to guide people to the events, together with direction arrows. The consultation events were held on:- Thursday 8th November, 5:30pm-8:30pm, St Paul’s Church Hall, Malmesbury Road, Chippenham. Friday 9th November, 11am-5:30pm, St Paul’s Church Hall, Malmesbury Road, Chippenham Saturday 10th November, 10am-4pm, The Town Hall, High Street, Chippenham 29 5.4.3 Town Crier A Town Crier was employed on Saturday 10th November to walk up and down Chippenham High Street, advising visitors and shoppers of the consultation event in the Town Hall. 5.5 Format of the events Upon entering the display area in the venues, attendees were invited to sign a visitors’ book. They were then handed a frequently asked questions sheet and a feedback form. Attendees were encouraged to complete the feedback form at the event, or to send the form back via freepost, e-mail or to insert their comments on the website. A copy of the response form and question and answer hand-out is included in Appendix 8. 5.6 The Display The main display comprised eight pop-up banners providing the following information:- 1. Who are CCP? Where is the site? What is the intention? 2. A brief history of previous proposals, 2007-2012 3. Key bullet points addressing retail and employment issues 4. Opportunities and constraints 5 & 6. A summary of the consultation feedback so far. 7. Details of the emerging Masterplan. 8. Request to receive opinions and views on the proposals. The display banners exhibited are reproduced in Appendix 9 of this report. 30 A split screen television display was also set up to illustrate the traffic study which had been commissioned by CCP. The display showed congested areas within Chippenham and how these traffic hot spots could be alleviated through the plans for alterations to the existing highway network put forward by CCP. 5.7 The consultation events were attended by members of the development team as follows:- Wayne Locke, Director. Ashtenne Industrial Fund Jo Davis, Director. GVA Ian Monachino-Ayres, Director. IMA Transport Suzanne Nixon, Transport Consultant. IMA Transport Graeme Warriner, Director. Turley Associates Sarah Foster, Director. SF Planning Link with support staff Anna Heyes, Managing Director, Active Profile, with support staff 31 5.8 Over 350 people attended the consultation event over the three day period. Written responses were received either by completed feedback forms at the event, e-mail, freepost or the website. A total of 210 written responses were received and analysed. 5.9 Many respondents raised points on several different issues, giving a total of 506 responses on individual topics. Each respondent was given a reference number. Each comment was categorised under a heading and a summary note of the comment made. These comments were then collated under individual headings. 5.10 The event resulted in representations from Chippenham Civic Society, member of the Town Council and Youth Worker. The working documents have been summarised to provide a comprehensive summary detailing the topics of responses and the number of comments on each topic, a summary of the comments and CCP’s response to them. Section 7 sets out the consultation responses .The summary of responses received to the November 2012 consultation with a response to these from CCP is included in this report as Appendix 10. 6.0 Student Input 6.1 CCP began engaging with Chippenham secondary school students in July 2012. On behalf of CCP, SF Planning Link approached Hardenhuish, Sheldon and Abbeyfield Schools and received positive responses to our invitation to engage from Hardenhuish and Abbeyfield Schools. 32 6.2 Informal meetings were held with chosen representatives, accompanied by a senior teacher, in July 2012. The students ranged from 12 to 17 years. 6.3 The students were briefed on the proposal and the objectives to redevelop the Langley Park site and upgrade Hathaway Retail Park. The meetings focused on obtaining information from the students on the following:- i) frequency of use by students and their families of Hathaway Retail Park ii) student’s opinion on current provision of activities for youth to engage in Chippenham iv) how students currently spend their leisure time. What? Where? When? As expected there were a wide range of comments with conversation sometimes producing “aspirational” suggestions for development of the site. A summary of the students’ responses is set out below. 6.3.1 Response to current use of Hathaway Retail Park Infrequent Used more by those living north of railway 33 Would use more if more accessible Used Blockbusters most 6.3.2 Student opinion on current youth activity provision in Chippenham.