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INTRODUCTION

The Market and Coastal Town Initiative Association is leading a regional partnership (Government Office of the South West, The Countryside Agency, The Housing Corporation, South West Regional Assembly, English Heritage, South West Acre Network, Lottery Funds South West and South West Regional Development Agency) to deliver this community based regeneration initiative for market and coastal towns and their surrounding areas. The Market & Coastal Towns Initiative (MCTI) invest in market and coastal town communities to help them plan their future and build their skills. It provides a “gateway” to funding programmes to make things happen, brokering projects which benefit the community.

The initial meeting of the Amesbury Market Town Partnership (AMTP) agreed to join the MCTi process. Grant funding has been earmarked to enable a Local Community Strategic Action Plan (LCSAP) to be prepared. The production of this LCSAP involves the community in having its voice in shaping the future development of the area over the next 25 or so years, by its incorporation into the Local Development Framework (LDF).

BACKGROUND TO AMESBURY AND ITS HINTERLAND

Introduction

The AMTP Steering Group is the main driver to realise the MCTI for Amesbury supported by Salisbury District Council. AMTP will help our community to organize ourselves to prepare and implement a plan for the town and the surrounding area. The plan will cover all parts of community life and will look 20 to 30 years ahead, setting out our vision of what the area should look like, based on extensive consultation.

The Community Strategy includes:

• A Health Check which will provide a detailed factual account of the area including a summary of the area’s weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• A statement of strategic objectives
• A listing of prioritised projects or actions of an economic, social or environmental nature; and
• A consideration of the funding, resourcing and phasing of the above

This strategy will feed into the production of the LCSAP. This area-wide plan will form the basis of the council’s future priorities. As such the work we are doing is fully supported by the district council who provide resources in terms of officer time.

Amesbury and its hinterland

Amesbury is a rapidly growing town of some 7,000 inhabitants with historic roots stretching back to the 10th century and more ancient sites all around. Stonehenge and its surrounding World Heritage Site lie in the west of Amesbury Parish.

Together with the surrounding parishes, totaling approximately 21, 000 inhabitants, the “Gateway to Cornwall” MCTi area, is bounded on the east by the Boscombe Down military airfield, the River Avon to the West of the centre of Amesbury and lies in an attractive rural area. The area has limited facilities such as schools, retail, leisure amenities and transport given the extensive and extending areas of housing. There are some light industrial estates and transportation links, beautiful river-side walks and a pleasant small town ambience.

The challenge is to find the right balance between residential houses and infrastructure as a Market Town supporting its rural hinterland.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR

• In June 2004 AMTP held its inaugural meeting, set its terms of reference, outlined action plan , training, attended the Tiverton MCTi conference and made a funding bid, which was granted in early 2005.
• Throughout 2005 AMTP consultated via on street questionaires, at summer events such as the figheldean Fayre, and outreach to local groups and businesses. A system using boards and post-its has been successful as the means to capture and record opinions by direct consultation.
• In 2006 indirect consultation is being carried out via contacts to other groups and a paper based version of the boards successfully piloted in 2005.

PREVIOUS REGENERATION INITIATIVES AND EXISTING STUDIES

Studies:

• Amesbury Vision Group, completed in 1999
• Of the 10 parishes contacted by AMTP Parish Plans have been completed by Durrington and Tidworth

Local people will have the first opportunity to have a say about matters that affect their daily lives when a local consultation exercise gets under way on Saturday 23rd April (we need to put a time in here any ideas? - I suggest the longer the better). The exercise will be held outside the Co - op in Amesbury Town Centre and is being run by local volunteers who sit on the "Amesbury Market Town Partnership" Steering Group who are gathering information to produce an Amesbury "Community Action Plan". Steering Group Chairman Ian Mitchell said:

" We are going to use a range of consultation techniques on a regular basis of which the questionnaire will be one to help us and each time we will focus on a different local issue. This will be the first one and we want to see lots of people participate. On this occasion we are really keen for them to tell us all about what they like and dislike about local buildings, architecture and public places in and around Amesbury and what they might like to see in the future."

The Steering Group was formed last year and have been allocated a grant from the County Council to produce the "Community Action Plan". Amesbury Community Librarian and Steering Group member Phil Edwards commented:

"At the end of the day we are all keen for the Community Action Plan to mean something and these local consultation exercises will form the cornerstone of the document so I hope we get good local feedback - I can think of a few local buildings people might want to comment about!!"

Future local consultation exercises will deal with a range of topics including shopping, the environment, traffic, recreation etc and as Ian Mitchell remarks:

"At each local consultation event we will produce a series of questions to assist us in talking to local people and everyone will have the opportunity to comment."

Copies of the questionnaire will be available through the Town Council Clerk Howard Piner ( 01722 417444 email amesburyclerk@btconnect.com) or AMTP Steering Group Chairman, Ian Mitchell (email ianmitch1.aol.com)

You can also fill in an online questionnaire at www.MarketTowns.org you will have to register on the site before you can use it, please do not let that put you off of filling in the questionnaire, we do value your opinion.

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