Kickstart for new Strategic Plan with levelling up in mind - Ken James

Last week’s full council meeting in Torridge had a number of different items and reports on the agenda but importantly also marked the start of the process for drawing up the councils next strategic plan, which will run from 2023 to 2028.

Since we were elected in May myself and my fellow councillors have been busy with a whole variety of induction training and themed workshop sessions as well as selecting committee chairs and lead members. With the dust just settled on this activity we are now starting the process of developing our vision and direction for the council in the coming years.

This is an extremely important piece of work because any projects we commission as councillors or future business plans for the various service areas will all be produced to align with the objectives we’re now in the process of setting out in our strategic plan.

The next step in the process will be an all councillor workshop to be held next Monday where all of us will gather to share our aspirations, debate and prioritise themes, and high level actions for inclusion in the plan. Our focus will be on a draft plan probably centred around the four themes prioritised previously, which were the local economy, communities’ health and housing, our environment, and our council. However, none of this is set in stone so it’s just as likely that many new themes and priorities may also emerge during the process.

The draft plan will then be approved at our next full council in September and will then go out for consultation with key stakeholders, parish and town councils and crucially our residents and community groups who will be able to have their own say on the plan. This will all feedback into a final version of the plan, which we’ll agree at full council in December.

Whilst the emerging plan is likely to prompt new strands of work and activity there are also many ongoing projects that we will also need to include. The main projects already in progress have a combined spending total of £28.9m, with much of the funding secured through grants from central government following hard won bids from sources such as the levelling up fund and the Rural England and Shared Prosperity funds. The projects include a new waste and recycling depot, housing sites and homeless accommodation, a revised local plan and perhaps our flagship project, the £17.3m Appledore clean maritime innovation centre.

Both the timing and focus of the next strategic plan will be particularly important this time around as the government have announced that Torridge has been identified as one of twenty Local Authority Areas to be invited to form a levelling up partnership (LUP) with the government. In total £400m has been allocated to the LUP spread across all 20 councils, although precise details and allocations have yet to emerge.

This is a real opportunity for the local economy and our residents but our inclusion does reflect the current low levels of academic achievement, low pay and output, and poor health issues across our district, which the government is hoping to help us improve through the funding.

The new strategic plan will therefore be a great chance for us to consider the strategic priorities that could be put forward for support through the LUP and both ourselves as councillors and our officers will be working very hard in discussions with government to maximise the benefits for Torridge.

It will be interesting to see what plans emerge in the coming months and how well we can tailor these to take advantage of emerging economic growth opportunities such as floating offshore wind farms and Xlinks – both capturing the power of nature.

These are certainly areas that can move the dial towards better training and better paid jobs for our future generations. Watch out for your own opportunity to help shape the plan in the coming months when the public consultation kicks off in the autumn.

Written by Ken James, Leader of Torridge District Council