Contact: Jo White Policy Officer 5004

[email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 Hampshire County Council is a key partner on the Winchester and District Working Together (the LSP for Winchester) which has prepared `The Community Strategy for Winchester' (see Appendix A). Hampshire County Council approval is necessary for the strategy to be implemented.

2. Background

2.1 The Local Government Act 2000 (LGA 2000) imposed a statutory duty on principal local authorities to prepare Community Strategies for their areas with the aim of improving social, economic and environmental well-being. These strategies must be prepared by a range of partners who agree to work together in a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The LSP for Winchester is known as the `Winchester and District Working Together' and is administered by the City Council.

2.2 The Community Strategy for Winchester was submitted to the P&R PRC for consideration in March 2004 and was circulated to the Corporate Community Strategy Group for their comments. These comments were fed back to the LSP as part of their consultation process.

2.3 This decision supports Aim 4 of the Corporate Strategy (Building Strong and Safe Communities) by working together with local people to build strong and safe communities for everyone.

2.4 The relevant local Member's views are taken into account through the LSP mechanism.

2.5 Due to the timescale involved in revising the Community Strategy for Winchester, it has not been possible to have the updated version ready for this decision day, and therefore we are presenting the draft version with the recommended changes tracked on the document.

2.6 The published Community Strategy for Winchester will be circulated as soon as it becomes available

2.7 The comments from the Corporate Community Strategy Group and PRC have been incorporated into the revised Community Strategy for Winchester, and we are happy with the final version with the following additional change of wording for action TA2: Consider means to improve accessibility to Winchester Railway Station. This change was agreed at the Winchester LSP meeting on the 16^th September.

3. A Community Strategy for Winchester

3.1 The Community Strategy for Winchester has been prepared as a result of community consultation and in conjunction with a range of partners, including

· all Parish Councils

· all City Councillors

· all County Councillors within the district

· LSP partners and their staff

· organisations that participated in the October 2002 conference

· The Hampshire Strategic Partnership and Local Strategic Partnerships in adjoining districts

· neighbouring district councils

· members of the public

3.2 The Community Strategy for Winchester has been developed in three main parts:

· An introduction to the district together with an analysis of current issues and a vision for the future

· Nine chapters - each based on a key theme with a number of medium term improvements allocated to a range of key partners. These themes (and actions) are mainly derived from existing plans and strategies that partners are already working towards. The purpose of including them in this document is to link them to the delivery of the overall vision and to provide opportunities for mutual support and increased effectiveness.

· `Big Issues' - a selection of issues identified by members of the LSP; it is intended that these will be the focus for some joint action by the LSP that will have a visible impact within the community over a shorter timescale than the work undertaken by the partners in support of the nine strategic themes.

3.3 Four `Big Issues' have been identified, which are:

· Investing in Youth

· Housing the community

· Improving access

· Reducing and recycling waste

3.4 The nine key themes contained in the strategy are listed below together with the `owner' or lead partner. The detail of specific actions that are the responsibility of the County Council is also shown

Housing - Winchester Housing Group (5 actions)

Create an action plan to tackle bed blocking arising from poor/inadequate housing and support

Health and Well-being - Mid Hampshire Primary Care Trust

10 actions identified (currently unallocated)

No actions allocated to the County Council.

Freedom from Fear - Hampshire Constabulary (8 actions)

Addressing road safety and traffic speeds to reduce the number and severity of accidents

Work together to introduce a 30mph speed limit in villages, where appropriate and in line with the wishes of the community

Transport and Access - Vacant (15 actions)

Establish Park and Ride on all principle routes into Winchester

Consider potential for increased parking at Winchester Railway Station- this action is contrary to the aims of the WMAP, the following has been put forward by the Environment Department as a revised action that HCC are happy to be the lead, which was agreed at the Winchester LSP meeting on the 16^th September.

Consider means to improve accessibility to Winchester Railway Station

Provide safer and more convenient walking and cycling routes

Reduce social exclusion by improving public and community transport, including addressing rural issues

Enhance rural life through sustainable access initiatives

Encourage the provision of rural demand responsive bus services

Economic Prosperity - North Hampshire Chamber of Commerce (13 actions)

Work to provide good transport links from rural communities to town centres, employment, health, leisure and cultural facilities

High Quality Environment - Vacant (11 actions)

No actions allocated to the County Council.

Lifelong Learning - King Alfred's University College (3 actions)

No actions allocated to the County Council.

Leisure and Recreation - Vacant (10 actions)

To improve the public transport links between important leisure locations so that they are more accessible without car use.

Inclusive Society - Winchester Area Community Action

7 actions identified (currently unallocated)

No actions allocated to the County Council.

Recommendation

That the `Community Strategy for Winchester' be recommended to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources for approval, subject to implementing the recommended change in paragraph 2.7
.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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