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04
Mar
Knaresborough residents urged to help create new Town Investment Plan
Monday night’s meeting of Knaresborough Town Council was given an update on the development of North Yorkshire Council’s regeneration plans for the town.
Knaresborough is one of 32 towns around the region that the council is developing Town Investment Plans (TIPs) for, and regeneration officer Lucy Williams told the 40-odd residents who attended that it was an ideal opportunity for them to get involved and voice their opinions.
She said:
[The TIP] will help North Yorkshire Council as well as the combined authority to target resources by clearly expressing your local priorities, and it will also provide the evidence base that we need to bid for funding in future.
Crucially, it’s a collaborative programme and concept. It’s going to bring together businesses, community groups, developers, public services, all through a process of proactive engagement and co-design.
Ultimately, the purpose is simple: we want to identify real, positive changes to help Knaresborough thrive, making it an even better place to live, work and visit.
Four key themes
Ms Williams outlined four key themes for the council’s 32 TIPs. First, she said the council wanted to enable enterprise, by developing digital infrastructure, providing workspace, and improving the vitality of town centres.
It also wants to ensure settlements are sustainable, by exploring active travel options and infrastructure that improves climate resilience.
Its third theme focuses on protecting heritage and promoting growth, through the use of cultural and heritage assets, and enhancement of the public realm.
The final theme is about improving social and personal wellbeing, by reducing health inequalities and enabling people to lead healthier lives.
How these themes are developed in Knaresborough’s case has yet to be determined, and will depend on the feedback the council receives from members of the public during the current phase of stakeholder engagement
Ms Williams said:
The evidence base we have access to is a really helpful starting point, but that’s all it is. We recognise its limitations. It’s what we can glean from these documents about Knaresborough, but it doesn’t really give a picture of your lived experience of Knaresborough.
That’s really what this plan is about. It’s not about us making decisions for you – you need to tell us how you feel, what you think, and what you think needs to go into this plan. That’s really important.
That’s why we’re now in the stage of stakeholder engagement, which is a core part of the programme. So we’re actively seeking the views of any many stakeholders as possible to create a shared, meaningful vision for Knaresborough.
'It doesn't add up!'
But although most attendees at the meeting appeared agreeable – or at least neutral – towards the idea of investment, one resident questioned the council’s approach. He said:
You seem to be developing a plan to spend money to improve Knaresborough. But since Harrogate Borough Council was taken over by North Yorkshire, there seems to have been an awful lot of neglect. We’ve got broken stone paving at the castle, faulty steps down into the moat, and unsafe benches in the Market Place that wobble – but North Yorkshire Council seems to have totally ignored these things.
So I can’t quite see how it fits together. You’re allowing all this scruffiness, and then wanting ideas for improving the town in the future.
We hear that North Yorkshire Council is going to cut the expenditure. All my life the council has paid for a Christmas tree in the Market Place, but now they want to cut that.
How can you possibly tell us that you’re planning improvements? It doesn’t add up!
But Ms Williams said concerns such as these would be addressed by the TIP. She said:
One of the strengths of this plan is that it’s not just about spending money – it's also a way that we can communicate internally with other teams. We’re trying to use this as a vehicle to get questions like that answered, and hopefully drive forward some positive change in terms of improvements like that.
The plan will be a way for you to voice these kinds of concerns, and I know it’s frustrating, because these things need resolving now, but that is something I’m looking into.
The council will be holding a drop-in session in Knaresborough Library today (Wednesday, March 4), from 9.30am to 12.30pm.
There will also be a more structured interactive session held at St John’s C of E Primary School hall during the evening, when council officers will be asking attendees about their thoughts on the four themes outlined above.
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