LYDNEY COASTAL COMMUNITY TEAM DRAFT ECONOMIC PLAN 2016 All photos with kind permission from Wye Valley & Forest of Dean Tourism Association www.wyedeantourism.co.uk 1 No Heading Detail Information . Key Information 1 Name of CCT N/A Lydney Coastal Community Team 2 Single Point Name Wendy Jackson of Contact Address Regeneration Manager (SPOC) Tel nos Forest of Dean District Council (FoDDC) Email High Street Coleford Gloucestershire GL16 8HG T. 01594 812 645 E. [email protected] 3 CCT Names and Executive Group (a) Membership position, e.g. Dane Broomfield – Environment Agency (Chair) resident, Cllr Brian Pearman – Lydney Town Council/ Local Lydney NDP Councillor Cllr Bob Berryman – Lydney Town Council/Lydney Area in Partnership Cllr Patrick Molyneux - FoDDC Cllr Alan Preest - FoDDC Wendy Jackson – FoDDC (Ex officio) Jayne Smailes – LTC (Ex officio) 3 CCT Other Stakeholder Group (b) Membership partners Gloucestershire County Council/AMEY, Historic and/or England, Harbour Master, Gloucester Harbour stakeholders Trustees, Inland Waterways Association, to be Lydney Yacht Club, Lydney Area in Partnership, involved. Wye Valley & FoD Tourism Association, Dean Forest Railway, Gloucestershire LEP. 4 Accountable Local Forest of Dean District Council Body Authority Contact name & Does the Accountable Body have a details representative on the CCT membership? Y 5 Local Area Provide brief Lydney Docks & Harbour in the Forest of Dean, geographical Gloucestershire is an historic Scheduled Ancient description Monument and a Grade 2 Listed Building. The of the Harbour is much used and cherished by Lydney locality and residents and visitors alike. The harbour area a brief extends to some 17 hectares and the site is 2 history if owned by the Environment Agency (EA). relevant. The harbour is a great location for observing the dramatic features of the Severn Estuary and the wildlife that exists in this protected habitat. The estuary is designated SSSI, Special Area of Conservation, SPA and a RAMSAR site. All development proposals at the docks and harbour will need to be compatible with the Habitats regulations and the conservation status of the estuary and bat sites. Forest of Dean District Council’s Core Strategy (CS) was adopted in 2012. The CS identifies Lydney as the most accessible and having the most potential for change of all the four towns in the District. The scale of new development planned through to 2026 will reflect this potential. This must be managed so that the net result is a town with a better service base, a greater range of employment and an improved environment. The use of natural assets including the harbour will enable the town to be more distinctive and will attract visitors and tourists. Plans are being developed for improvements in the town centre alongside the Gloucestershire County Council led highway strategy improvements for the town. FoDDC’s emerging Allocations Plan illustrates how the proposals within the CS will be implemented. One key allocation site linked to the Lydney CCT Economic Plan is Pine End Works and land to the north (AP43) which consists of some 10.6 hectares of land allocated for an employment led mixed use development. The main land uses will need to generate jobs and can include a wide range of activities with the potential to form a prime leisure and tourism destination. This privately owned site could provide conventional employment space as well as a harbour frontage which maximises its potential for leisure and recreation activity in the area. Supporting the redevelopment of this previously developed site is a key priority over the short to medium term for the Lydney CCT Economic Plan. Lydney Town Council’s (LTC) emerging Lydney Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) similarly supports increasing its potential for recreation & tourism whilst retaining and 3 safeguarding its character and structure. The Harbour is an important economic, recreational and historic asset for the town. LTC and local community groups have joined forces to prepare the Lydney Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) and the Examiners Version was published in March 2014. http://www.lydneyndp.org.uk/ The Draft NDP firmly endorses and encourages community and wider stakeholder involvement. The draft NDP provides an economic and socially sustainable vision for the future of the town over a 10 year period from 2014 to 2024. The draft NDP has a specific policy for Lydney Harbour Area – LYD HAR 1 Recreational development in the Harbour Area will be welcomed provided that it fully respects and sustains the protected historic character of the area and helps ensure the preservation, restoration and interpretation of this key feature for both the local community and visitors alike. This designation of Lydney as a Coastal Community Team in July 2015 was welcomed locally as a timely mechanism that will help to implement the CS and the NDP planning policies (following approval & adoption). In 2015 a new partnership between the Forest of Dean District and Lydney Town Council took advantage of a DCLG supported Community Economic Development Programme that will focus on improving the town centre in line with both CS and NDP policy objectives. The CED Programme established that Lydney has two Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA’s) that fall in the lowest Indicators of Multiple Deprivation deciles and so are considered to be in the most 30% most deprived areas of England. The District Council is monitoring the unemployment rates within the 3 Lydney ward areas (Appendix 3) and will use this baseline data within any needs assessment and gap analysis work to underpin the Lydney CCT Economic Plan. The Lydney LSOA’s include: 009E (EO1022256) and 009C (EO1022254) Source http://opendatacommunities.org/showcase/deprivation 4 Together the Lydney CCT Economic Plan and the CED Town Centre Economic Plan will strengthen local partnership working, supported initially by DCLG funding to help deliver shared planning policy objectives seeking to improve Lydney’s role in providing opportunities for recreation and tourism development based on the historical and natural attributes of the harbour, the dock and Dean Forest Railway. 6 Context – Description Appendix 1 illustrates the NDP designated area community of local and the three Lydney electoral ward boundaries. (suggested community Census data from 2011 confirms that the NDP maximum with area has a population of 9,993 residents in 300 words) demographic 4,263 households. Of the total residents: s. 1,945 are aged 1-16 years 6,115 are aged 17-65 years 1,933 are aged +66 years Lydney docks and harbour is specifically located within Alvington, Aylburton and West Lydney electoral ward. This ward contains 3000 of Lydney’s population with some 340 people aged 75 or over and there are higher than average number of Car Badge Holders amongst the older residents. Amongst children and young people at Key Stage 2 a high rate of pupils are not achieving Level 4+ in English & Maths when compared against the County average. This picture improves at Key Stage 4 where pupils are achieving 5+ A-C grades including GCSE English & Maths (Source: MAIDen - Gloucestershire County Council). In terms of economy and enterprise, the total number of benefit claimants (ESA, incapacity, out-of-work, income related benefits) for the Alvington, Aylburton and West Lydney Ward is in mid-position of the three Lydney Wards – where Lydney East ranks the highest and Lydney North the lowest. In December 2015, Alvington, Aylburton & West Lydney had a 1.3% claimant rate compared with 2.4% Lydney East and 0.9% Lydney North. With the exception of Lydney North, these figures exceed the County rate of 1.0% and UK rate of 1.8%. The Gloucestershire Neighbourhood Profiles 2014 (MAIDen) and Unemployment Claimant data 2015/16for each of the Lydney wards are detailed in Appendix 2 & 3 respectively. 5 7 Context – Local Employment opportunities in Lydney mainly economy economy, exist in the retail sector, education, care (suggested e.g. services and manufacturing. Lydney’s largest maximum business, employer (172 employees) is JD Norman 400 words) tourism, (formerly Federal Mogul foundry) an American manufacture‘ owned metal component manufacturing Starting company. The JD Norman site has planning point’ approval for a new out of town ASDA supermarket. This new retail investment in the town will increase local shopping choice, provide some 250 new full & part-time jobs and safeguard the future of JD Norman by facilitating the company’s relocation and expansion in the town. The planning approval also provides a significant S106 developer contribution of £380,000 to support town centre enhancement including a new market square and shop front improvements. Other existing industrial sites in Lydney vary from those hosting single occupiers to areas containing a variety of premises that can provide for both existing and new businesses. These include: the Lydney Harbour Industrial Estate, Railway Station Area, Church Road and Mead Lane. A major new employment site (25.8 hectares) at Hurst Farm is part of the planned “East of Lydney” mixed neighbourhood. It is expected that this major development will be delivered in phases by different developers. Town centre retail health & vitality is monitored annually and the 2015 survey data will be complemented by a retail business survey report prepared by University of Gloucestershire undergraduate business students. This report will be available in March 2016 and will be added to the Lydney CCT economic plan appendices. In 2015 Lydney town centre housed some 172 shops and services. Some 22 units were vacant (12.8%) this is a decrease from 15.5% in 2014 and below the UK national average of 14.1% (Local Data Company). There has been a modest decrease in the average 10 minute footfall count from 2014 to 2015. Whilst the average overall week and weekday counts have fallen, the average weekend counts have increased.