Town Council Forward Plan

 

Some of your feedback to the community consultation this year directly related to the Town Council and how we communicate with you. A few of your most common queries are below, along with our response.

‘Regular delivery of the magazine’- This magazine is delivered every other month to every household and business in the parish. If you do not receive it, please let us know so we can ensure you do get a copy delivered to you. The magazine is also available to pick up from the Town Hall and is uploaded to our website to view.

‘Use social media’- WGTC is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Nextdoor. Please follow us on these channels for information and updates about our work, projects and events going on in the parish. We don’t post every day, but we do post at least once a week! Our handles are listed on page 30.

‘Frequent updates on council progress via letters in the post’- Council progress is covered in this magazine and you can view the minutes of public meetings on our noticeboards and on our website. We also post updates on our social media pages and on our website. We are unable to send letters in the post to residents due to the time and cost this would involve.

‘Information about councillors should be more accessible’- Councillor contact details are online on our website, on pg 29 of every magazine and on all noticeboards around the parish. A register of interests is available on the MKCC website. If you have suggestions about how they can be made more accessible, let us know.

‘WGTC needs to inform residents of its aims, what the council is responsible for and how it spends our money’- Our aims (the Forward Plan) have been agreed upon and were published in the previous edition of this magazine. Please visit our website to learn what WGTC is responsible for and what MKCC is. All our financial information is available on our website; if you are interested in learning about the budget and precept this is discussed from October onwards and will be agreed early next year, so please come along to Finance Committee and Full Council meetings.

‘Flyers posted in homes to advise when town council meetings take place so everyone has the opportunity to engage and participate’- This is your flyer! All council meetings are listed on page 29 and are available to view on our website and the noticeboards around the parish.

‘Periodical newsletter is insufficient’ - We are unable to produce a monthly magazine due to the time and cost involved in doing so. However, if you want more information about the work of WGTC please come to a meeting or read the minutes of these meetings on our website and on noticeboards or check out our social media pages!

 

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to the community consultation we sent out in April. WGTC have a clearer understanding of the issues that matter to you most and where you would like to see improvement as well as what you like about living in our parish.

Wolverton

Good: community spaces like the Community Orchard, Urb Farm and Secret Garden, community events like the Lantern Festival and community groups such as In Bloom. Also mentioned was the community spirit, leisure centre and library.

Improvement: Parking came first closely followed by ASB/crime including fly-tipping, litter and the use of motorbikes. Also mentioned were the surfaces of the back alleys and roads and the recycling centre in Old Wolverton.

New: the most common answer was ‘Post Office’ (at the time of writing this is due to return to 14 Stratford Road on 9th September) followed by ‘the bank’ and then a request to paint more parking bays on the streets in Wolverton.

Greenleys

Good: green spaces and trees

Improvement: ASB, including motorbikes and litter

New: a youth club and activities for children to get involved in

Hodge Lea

Good: the people

Improvement: maintenance was the biggest concern, this included potholes, pathways and hedges

New: the desire for a bus service to be reinstated was the most popular response to this question

Stacey Bushes

Good: the community or neighbourhood

Improvement: play areas and a range of play equipment for all ages

New: the provision of shops and a playpark

The feedback has been discussed at a visionary meeting and at the meeting of Full Council in August where your Councillors decided on a Forward Plan, i.e., what the council will focus on going forward. The below objectives of the Forward Plan were chosen by you, following from the results from the consultation and Councillors because they were one or more of the following: prevalent across the parish, common in a specific area of the parish, areas where the Council has the power to act and areas where the Council feels it can add value or make a difference.

Item 1- Parking and Highways Issues

Resurfacing of roads across the parish

Improve parking

Clean gullies

Street signage

Item 2- ASB

Increase CCTV

More patrols by TVP

Work to decrease ASB

Item 3- Green spaces

Grass cutting

Use of available green spaces

Item 4- Buses

Improve bus routes/services within the parish

Item 5- Ancillary spaces

Public loo in Greenleys

Improve ancillary space in Greenleys

Item 6- WGTC

Signage in Wolverton from various points to the Town Centre

Support for Polish/Ukranian speakers

Christmas Lights

Clear communication on budget

All feedback provided will be kept and referred to when required. The feedback about issues that are not within our remit and that we have no power to act on will be passed on to the relevant body for their attention; in most cases this is MKC but we will also send comments to our MP, Ben Everitt, and to Thames Valley Police. The feedback will also be useful for us when we work with MKC on delivering services within our parish as we will have a better understanding of our residents’ concerns and wishes.