As we emerge from the pandemic, we wanted to listen to your views on several key topics to help us shape activities in the borough.
The following tables are a collection of your views on each of the big topics discussed, listed alongside what actions we will take.
You Said, We Will
Community safety
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| Community safety was a top priority of residents. |
Work with community groups to help address anti-social behaviour. |
| Increased safety measures for women, girls and vulnerable groups. |
Raise awareness of Hate Crime and improve reporting and response. |
| Increased police presence |
Will implement safety measures for women, girls and vulnerable groups. |
| Safe places for children and young people to play and meet. |
Work with Greater Manchester Police to increase the police’s profile in identified areas. |
| Improved pedestrian safety through increased |
Address children and young people’s concerns of safety via police school talks/ engagement. |
| CCTV, better street lighting and accessible pavements. |
Use temporary CCTV in areas of concern. |
Community involvement
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| People saw an increase in community spirit during the pandemic and want this to continue. |
Will work with community groups to co-host/ support a large networking event (for community groups and businesses to attend). |
| Support people to volunteer to make kinder communities. |
Will promote the valuable work of volunteers. |
| Raise awareness of community groups and their work in the borough. |
Promote volunteer training opportunities. |
| Support community groups to grow and be involved. |
Host a central information point for volunteering opportunities. |
| Link businesses and community groups together. |
Will promote funding opportunities for groups. |
| |
Consider options to support community groups transitioning to a Community Interest Company (CIC). |
| |
Will provide support to ensure that our community groups can access commissioning opportunities. |
Climate change
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| Majority of residents agreed that it is important for the council to prioritise environmental issues. |
Support the development of a community climate webpage, link with schools to ensure that this is accessible by school children. |
| More information on what action is taking place in the borough and what more can be done to address climate change by everyone. e.g., green power. |
Create joint climate communication campaigns, focussing on environmental benefits of buying from local and/or ethical businesses, how to reduce household energy, recycling, re-using and avoiding waste. |
| Plant flowers, trees and maintain the existing established trees we have. |
Continue to hold climate change conversations. |
| Procurement of services should reflect the climate change agenda, e.g., avoiding the use of plastic. |
Review how we maintain trees. |
| Repurpose buildings where possible and ensure sustainable development. |
Continue to plant wildflowers, however, leave till autumn before cutting unless safety concerns. |
| People should avoid waste or re-use in addition to recycling. |
Review procurement requirements to ensure that it reflects our climate agenda commitments, including limiting plastic use. |
| Consider a similar programme of Eco-Schools, but for businesses. |
Establish a climate training programme for staff and elected members. Consider possibilities of sharing training opportunities with the VCFSE sector. |
| Make it easier to recycle when out (in public places). |
Environment Impact Assessments to be completed and published on physical developments and changes. |
| |
Consider the feasibility of supporting a CIC for climate change, for example a repair shop/cafe and training centre. |
| |
Consider the feasibility of an eco-friendly recognition scheme for local businesses and the VCFSE sector. |
| |
Support the organisation of large litter picking community events. |
Transport
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| Limit car traffic in certain areas, e.g., schools. |
Support a car sharing co-operative in the borough. |
| Have affordable buses and trains. |
Reduce car journeys to schools and prioritising pedestrianisation around schools. |
| Have clean and modern buses. |
Work with GMCA and Transport for Greater Manchester on the modernisation of the bus fleet and on the design of bus routes. |
| Have more frequent, reliable and shorter / more direct routes for buses. |
Consider how we could progress segregated cycle infrastructure. |
| Cycle lanes to be linked up rather than isolated paths and segregated. That are well-lit and maintained. |
Map out existing cycle routes and identify journey gaps and consider how the Bee Network will cover these gaps. |
| Tackle inconsiderate parking. |
Will respond to traffic safety concerns and continue to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists. |
| Maintain pavements and overgrown hedges. |
Implement a programme of maintenance of pavements, including an efficient and easy reporting process. |
| |
Consider how we can improve early engagement in the development process. |
| |
Increase the network and usage of electric charging infrastructure in the borough. |
District Town Centres
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| Residents liked their district town centres because of its friendly community feel, its convenience and they offer a range of independent shops and services. |
Increase the sense of community and pride in district town centres. |
| Majority of residents would change to shop local and support jobs for residents. |
Continue to clean streets and free from weeds and encourage residents to lend a helping hand. |
| Improve district town centres by cleaning the streets of litter and weeds, attract more variety into the centres, address anti-social behaviour and reduce traffic. |
Continue to invest in the In Bloom programme, ensuring our borough is attractive and green. |
| Develop district town centres in a sustainable way, repurpose buildings, protect green spaces and historic buildings. |
Encourage and support businesses to maintain and improve their maintenance of shop frontages to ensure a well-presented district town centre. |
| Prioritise support for local businesses and employment in the future through spending on local goods and services. |
Support local businesses by providing local jobs and creating vibrant district town centres. |
| |
Encourage independent businesses and investors into our district centres, utilising business festivals and events to promote the business engagement support available locally. |
| |
Ensure there is something for young people in district centres, with events and spaces. |
| |
Ensure fair investment in all district town centres. |
| |
Work with partners to create a safe and vibrant evening economy in district town centres. |
Culture, heritage and sport
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| To be proactive in addressing development that harms our historic environment. |
Implement and monitor our Historic Environment Strategy and Action Plan. |
| Protect and enhance our conservation areas. |
Continue to celebrate our historic environment and promote learning and understanding of it. |
| Celebrate our historic environment and promote learning and understanding of it. |
Help people define their own and Wigan’s cultural heritage through the creative management and use of collections, archives and cultural resources. |
| Support affordable, welcoming, and well organised local cultural events. |
Ensure that events are accessible and meet the needs of our communities. |
| Support cultural grassroot groups. |
Provide advice and support to develop the reach and capacity of our grassroots cultural organisations to meet their ambitions. |
| Support easy to get to, free or affordable parking. |
Establish a year-round programme of events promoted widely to encourage participation. |
| Promote events in advance. |
Ensure that sport opportunities are accessible and inclusive. |
| Support local talent as well as national recognised artists / performances. |
Support community events that celebrate local talent and provide opportunities to engage in high quality cultural activity. |
Equality
| You Said | We Will |
|---|
| Engage people with lived experience and understand each other’s experiences. |
Engage regularly with residents who have lived experience and early on in policy and decision making. |
| More celebration and education about diversity. |
Work with the existing community infrastructure, who are already working with communities who face inequalities. |
| Equality and diversity training for Council staff, by local people with lived experience. |
Develop a plan of celebration and education about diversity. |
| Make communication more accessible. |
Consider equality and diversity training for Council staff, by Wigan residents/ organisations with lived experience. |
| Ensure all communities are represented. |
Review how can we make our communications more accessible. |
| Encourage people to raise issues and communicate action, to raise confidence and encourage people to stand up for themselves and their communities. |
Look at the diversity of the council and its services. |
| Share intelligence gathered. |
Encourage people to raise issues and communicate action, to raise confidence and encourage people to stand up. |
| Use the right language to ensure equality and inclusion. |
Ensure that the right language is used to ensure equality and inclusion. |
Children and young people
We included all the great ideas of our children and young people within the key topics above. In addition, we also identified some specific next steps for our activities with young people:
- Identify areas of informal spaces for children and young people to socialise safely
- Link children and schools with volunteering opportunities
- Support our children moving to secondary school and then college or into work
- Support life skills
- Support our children’s mental health
- Raise awareness of online safety and cyber bullying
- Involve children and young people in making services better.