SHAPING THE FUTURE
A second EXPO was held in St John’s Hall between 6 – 13 October. This event, which was organised by key Penzance organisations in partnership with Cornwall Council, included the unveiling of the final draft Neighbourhood Plan and the formal launch of the six week public consultation. It also provided an update on progress of the key regeneration initiatives and showcased Penzance to the outside world as an attractive investment prospect.
Community Workshops
The purpose of these workshops was to inform development of the Neighbourhood Plan Objectives and Policies and, with the benefit of support from guest officers to understand how working together we can achieve the most beneficial outcome for the parish as a whole and its individual communities.
Each workshop started with a brief summary of the consultation feedback/relevant background information and an outline of the Neighbourhood Plan Objectives and Policy aims. The workshop was then an open forum for constructive comment, discussion and questions.
The meeting was minuted and formed part of the Neighbourhood Plan consultation process. The minutes will be available on the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan website soon.
Monday 8th October: Housing and Community
Guest: Sarah Furley – Principal Planning Policy Officer, Strategic Policy Team
Tuesday 9th October: Transport and Infrastructure
Guest: Rebecca Lyle – Transport Principal Officer, Economic Growth and Development Team
Wednesday 10th October: Environment
Guest: Environment Agency
A new Community Link Group has been set up to give individual communities the opportunity to ensure policies in the draft Penzance Neighbourhood Plan meet the needs of their local areas.
The draft Plan covers the whole of the Penzance Parish area which includes Newlyn, Mousehole, Paul, Heamoor, Alverton, Gwavas, Gulval and Eastern Green as well as the town of Penzance. The new Group, chaired by Penzance Mayor Dick Cliffe with Neighbourhood Plan Co-ordinator Susan Stuart, includes representatives from all these areas.
The draft Plan sets out a wide range of policies covering areas such as housing, economy and employment, town and village centres, community facilities and the natural environment. They have been developed using feedback based on the results of two previous public consultation exercises, a household survey and comments made during last year’s Penzance EXPO.
The aim of the new group is to look at the Neighbourhood Plan and the draft policies it includes and identify any potential issues or new proposals relating to individual local communities. This will enable the Plan to be ready for the launch of the formal public consultation in October.
The Community Link Group will meet fortnightly over the next two months to discuss the focus of the Plan and its policies and link back to their local communities. The results of this engagement will then be considered alongside the responses from the previous consultation events to produce the final draft of the Neighbourhood Plan. This will be formally unveiled during the Penzance Investment EXPO being held at St John’s Hall between 6 – 13 October. It will then go out for six weeks of public consultation.
A series of specific consultation events and activities will be held in the town centre and surrounding communities during October and November to encourage all sections of the local community to get involved and to influence the final plan. Details of these events will be published on the NP website and on social media as well as via the local media as soon as they have been confirmed.
The responses from this consultation will then be analysed and used to shape the final Neighbourhood Plan document. Once completed, this document will be formally submitted to Cornwall Council for consideration early in the New Year.
A local referendum where residents will be asked to vote Yes or No to the whole Neighbourhood Plan will then take place in Spring 2019.
The Neighbourhood Plan will shape the future of Penzance. We want to make sure we can protect the features which make our town special at the same time as providing the housing and employment opportunities our young people need if they are to stay and raise families in Penzance. The Neighbourhood Plan will help us to achieve this so please make sure you get involved in the consultation.
Please register below to find out about your local representative on the Community Link Group.