As part of the Rural Towns Healthcheck initiative, Hawkhurst has undergone a significant review of local facilities. Sue Beer, of KCC’s Environment and Regeneration Directorate, with Bruce Cova, MBE and Yolanda Leybourne, the local Hawkhurst Healthcheck Group will speak about the review and the action plan to which it has led.
Minutes:
Bruce Cova, Sue Beer and Yolanda Leybourne spoke about the Hawkhurst Healthcheck, which had been under way for about eighteen months, and had just produced its initial Action Plan. The Healthcheck was a major community planning initiative for Hawkhurst. The Healthcheck group, formed by local people, had gathered a great deal of information about the town, and the thoughts and ambitions of local people. Hawkhurst was close to the boundary of two District Council areas, and two County Council boundaries, so inevitably, the area tended to feel somewhat “out on a limb”.
The Healthcheck had identified many potential opportunities for local development and regeneration. Key points identified to date included:
· difficulties in communication and planning for future development as a result of the number of absentee landlords/landowners with interests in the area;
· an acute need for more (and more accessible) childcare for the area;
· the tourism potential of Hawkhurst, which was not being exploited, even though about three-quarters of a million people a year visited attractions such as Bedgebury, Sissinghurst, Bodiam etc, which were less than six miles away;
The Healthcheck’s Action Plan followed various local consultation exercises, which had been well supported. Initially a web site had been created for the consultation work, but plans were now being made for a wider-ranging and more permanent local web presence. The Action Plan would raise local expectations, and access to grant support for many of the identified priorities would be very important. Identifying the potential sources of grant would be a key next stage in the process.
Questions and discussion following the presentation about the Healthcheck covered a wide range of topics, including:
· Reinforcement of the view that the area had considerable, untapped tourist potential, but that meeting this would make demands on Hawkhurst, including the need for more car parking space.
· KCC’s role, in supporting the Healthcheck process. This was something that was happening in a number of other parts of the County too, and compatible with KCC’s economic development and rural regeneration roles.
· On-going ownership of the Healthcheck Action Plan. It was agreed locally that there was now a need for a body like a Town Partnership, involving representative stakeholders. It was crucial that some of the “quick wins” identified were delivered, while longer term planning continued to focus on the larger and more long-term projects, such as a “community hub”. However, it was important that the relevant parts of the Action Plan were also agreed by KCC/TWBC etc, as they were unlikely to move forward if they remained outside recognised development and planning processes.
· The need to recognise that the Action Plan necessarily focused on the issues needing action and change, but not to overlook the advantages that Hawkhurst already had, with high quality schools, good local employment levels etc.
In summing up, Bruce Cova emphasised that the current Action Plan should be seen as the initial plan, focusing on a 3-5 year timescale. There was much more to be done to gain an even fuller picture of the area, its people, needs and opportunities.