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Title: Town team to be established to oversee Maidenhead Vision Charter Post by: RBWM Press Release on June 24, 2021, 05:17:53 PM A charter giving residents their say on how Maidenhead town centre will be improved over the next 15-20 years has been adopted by Cabinet.
The face of Maidenhead town centre is changing fast with several developments around the town, along with private sector investment. A town team will be established to review, monitor and assess projects that come forward to ascertain whether they meet the Maidenhead Vision Charter’s key points.The team will work in partnership with the council and other key action groups, stakeholder, and community groups. Councillor David Coppinger, cabinet member for planning, environmental services and Maidenhead, said: “The charter’s vision for Maidenhead town centre is for a thriving Thames-side community - a welcoming social, community and business hub that makes the most of everything that surrounds it. “It shall be a place where we celebrate local character and embrace new, high-quality buildings and public spaces. “Connected, physically and digitally, the town centre will be our proud heart, a place of leisure, living and working which seamlessly transitions between vibrant day and evening activities. “The charter is not a planning document, but an aspiration of the town that our residents, and business have said they want to live in. It is an exciting vision for the future that chimes with people’s expectations and supports the delivery of a healthy, equitable and attractive town centre.” By signing the document key stakeholders and future developers will commit to contributing to the delivery of the overall vision and 12 charter points, which describe the local community aspirations for the future of Maidenhead town centre. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Maidenhead town centre, businesses and community. As a result, the need for a placemaking vision demonstrating inspiration, ambition and confidence in the future of the town centre has taken on a new significance - that of helping steer a course for the town centre’s post-Covid recovery. The Maidenhead Town Team will be made up of eight individuals, including two local councillors, one executive director from the council, and five independent members. The council will be responsible for appointing the members of the group. The chair will be independent, and not be a councillor or an officer of the council. Councillor Coppinger added: “The team will have representations from a wide selection of groups, making it as inclusive as possible. It will coordinate with other key stakeholders and community groups and will seek to review and influence decision making where possible.” The council appointed architects and master planners JTP in early 2019 to engage with stakeholders and the wider community to co-create a shared placemaking vision and charter for Maidenhead town centre. Initial community workshops in late 2019 formed the starting point for the document and further consultation took place last year. Membership of the town team will be established by a recruitment panel. To read the charter please visit: https://www.jtp.co.uk/cms/pdfs/01755_Vision-Document_VC_210326.pdf |