Call to order
A meeting of the Management Group of Hoylake Vision Community Planning Forum was held at Arthur’s Restaurant on 09.08.23.
Attendees
Attendees: Mark Howard (MHo), Tom Hutchinson (TH), Jon Morgan (JM), Alex Woods (AW), Nigel Blacow (NB), Maureen Hanson (MHa), Jon Caswell (JC), Jade Wright (JW), Andrew Snell (AS)
Members not in attendance
None
Approval of minutes
The minutes of the June meeting were approved.
Management Group Meeting Reports
- Social media strategy
TH had started with the first post, relating to the Conservation Area Appraisal. The page came under immediate fire from a few people, asking about the funding arrangements. Previous correspondecne between the Chair, the Cabinet Member for the Environment and the Leader of the Labour Group at the time was cited; this had been obtained via a FOI request. It was pointed out that the role of the management group should necessarily involve conversations with Officers and Members of the council from time to time; the forum is a designated body and the NDP is part of the Development Plan. Thus, it is to be expected that we should be involved in this way. Around the same time as the correspondence referenced, the Chair had also been in meetings and had correspondence with Hoylake Ward Councillors on a range of issues. All points were clarified and further posts were made with less negative response. It was agreed to continue, giving only factual responses and correcting misinformation where it appears. Action: TH, JW, AW and JC to draft guidelines for consistent approach. - Response to Councillor Cox social media comments
MHo reported that he had not received a further update from WMBC Head of Law subsequent to her 13 July email acknowledging the request for a meeting with ward councillors. MHo had asked again on 8 August but had not yet received a response. Action: MHo to contact WMBC again in a few days.
- Newsletter response rates
MHo reported that the Mailchimp e-newsletter analytics were showing strong results. The July Member Newsletter showed a 96% delivery success rate; 141 out of 207 had opened the newsletter (69.8%); there was a 8.9% click rate (engagement with links) and no unsubscribes. Some users opened the newsletter multiple times (this does not affect the figures above). These are encouraging results that show we are getting above average reader engagement; however we really need to increase membership to get more news to more people “out there”. - Update on Sports Club consultations and municipal golf course / wetlands / sports village concept
AS had conversations with a number of interested sports organisations and local individuals interested in community sports development. He is hoping to visit the “Golfit” scheme in Glasgow, which could offer good inspiration for the way ahead. This scheme includes a visitor centre, nature park, children’s activities, all age golf, schools engagement and more. We will need to develop the ideas and engage in a consultation process with the community over the coming months to gauge support. Action: AS to continue liaising. - Conservation Area Appraisal
TH had organised a walkaround with council officers and the commissioned consultants for the next day. Conversations were going well and the work will certainly be of benefit to the whole town, strengthening the work and influence of the Planning Forum as well as the Conservation Areas Association. - Open Day/ AGM Planning
The Open Day and AGM is confirmed as September 16th at St Luke’s from 11am to 4.30pm. The display panels would be set up, tables with post it notes for comments and one to one conversations would be available. The last Open Day had been a great success with over 200 people attending during the day; many had found the information helpful and many misapprehensions had been corrected. TH would speak around Heritage and Density; AW around Engagement Strategy and MHo around “Legacy; the need for a revival of long term vision vs short termism in planning.” Action: MHo, AW and TH (presentations), NB (membership/voting), AW (venue liaison). - Local Plan consultation
TH explained that he and MHo agreed to develop respresentations on behalf of the forum on heritage, density concerns and alignment between the Local Plan and the NDP, notably in the Carr Lane Area. Action: MHo and TH to draw up representations and submit to the LP Inspector. Subsequently to present these at the Local Plan hearings in September / October 2023. - AOB
- The Ellerman Lines site had been up for auction. It apepars none of the ‘packages’ of land had sold. It was agreed the forum should bring this to the attention of the council as this is a strategically important piece of land that could open up further opportunities for public access to the hinterland behind Carr Lane and improvements to the environment there, as set out in the draft Hoylake Masterplan. Action: MHo to write to the council, bringing this to their attention.
Provisional date of next meeting Weds 13 September 2023
