Flintshire Ways of Working

At around the same time as the Welsh Government’s launch of Placemaking Plans, Flintshire County Council’s incoming Regeneration Manager undertook a review of the existing governance and delivery of placemaking projects in the Council. A proposal was then presented to senior leadership to create a new Places Group, which now meets quarterly to facilitate strategic conversations amongst senior leaders who influence place. The teams involved include Regeneration, Streetscene, Planning, Business & Skills and Transportation.

As this was a change to how things had previously been done, there was a period of adjustment. However, there was a gradual change in opinion as the benefits of a more collaborative way of working became apparent. The team began to coordinate funding bids and develop approaches to co-delivery which ensured better value for money by linking financial resources and creating small working groups across teams on different projects.

Mini Action Plans were created by the Places Group in three key towns- Buckley, Holywell, Shotton - to identify key activities and where these could be better joined up across teams. This process also involved identifying external silos that existed, as unlocking these was necessary to ensure they worked effectively in partnership with the local authority.

The Places Group work closely with the People Group, which comprises relevant, external stakeholders such as the Police, Health Board, Clinical, Older Peoples, Children and Young People, Federation of Small Businesses, and Diversity Group. This collaborative working across the People and Places Groups connects council services and supports project delivery.

Most of the Action Plan work was developed in-house, supported by external expertise on urban design and pulling the documents together to form Placemaking Plans. This ensured that ideas had been tested with the community through engagement led by officer teams who knew the areas well. The engagement included digital feedback through targeted social media linked to the Give My View platform. A Placemaking Flintshire brand was developed which is intentionally bright, colourful and engaging, to give a sense of identity to all the placemaking work which is going on across the County and generate interest.

The Placemaking Plans identify opportunities that are informed by public feedback, community statistics and assessment of the places, including commercial, economic, social, and green infrastructure evaluations. The plans intend to provide an opportunities framework, rather than set projects, which are discussed by the local delivery group annually to set the actions and programme for the coming year.

Impact

Efficiencies in collaborative approaches to project delivery are becoming clear through successful funding bids, increased value for money and holistic approaches to identifying and delivering projects.

The ‘opportunities framework’ approach to Placemaking Plans intends to allow the plan to be flexible and dynamic to adapt to local changes and funding or investment opportunities. The County Council are starting to see the first strategic investments in Shotton, which directly links to the placemaking plan themes identified.