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AYCLIFFETODAY
Neighbourhood Plan
Officer Angela Corner
in Great Aycliffe Town
Council Chambers.
PLANNING FOR THE
FUTURE
Great Aycliffe Town Council's Neighbourhood Plan Officer
Angela Corner talks to Zoe Skerrett...
Residents of Great Aycliffe are being
given an opportunity to have their say
in the future development of the town.
Behind this plan is Angela Corner,
who
is
running
consultations
with residents, businesses and
organisations and forming task
groups to decide on some options to
offer the public.
Angela is a 38-year-old Newton
Aycliffe resident who attended the
Avenue Comprehensive, and her most
recent role was as a Project Manager
for Stockton Citizens Advice Bureau.
After 12 years of helping people in
the community manage their money
better, designing projects and finding
funding for them, Angela decided it
was time for a new challenge and took
on the role of writing the Great Aycliffe
Neighbourhood Plan.
Angela is based at the Great Aycliffe
Town Council (GATC) offices, where
she is gathering the issues people
have with the town and discussing
how they would like their town to
develop over the next 20 years.
Right now, Angela’s job is to find out
what are your priorities for the town.
What do you think is good about the
town? What do you think needs to
be protected but also what needs to
improved or be developed.
The Neighbourhood Plan will send
questionnaires to homes in the next
couple of weeks, when residents will
be able to suggest their ideas but
also discuss their issues that they feel
could be improved on.
“This is a key document, if people
have an issue they need to complete
this survey and have their say,” insists
Angela.
The questionnaire will cover topics
such as transport, environment, retail
and housing but also asking people
what is their overall vision for the
town. The deadline for completion is
10th October 2014. Once the results
have been analysed task groups will
be set up to work on YOUR priorities
for the town.
Angela adds: “Until we know what
people want, it’s pointless us saying
what we can and can’t do. The
Neighbourhood Plan MUST be led by
the community, without the residents
input there can be no plan.
“There are a lot of questions on the
survey however; you can fill as much
or as little as you want. We need to
people to tell us what is important to
them.
“I can't stress enough how important
this survey is. It's a fantastic
opportunity for people to have a real
say in how Aycliffe is developed”.
“Once the Neighbourhood Plan is
completed, it will be put to the public in
a referendum, when we'll need a 51%
majority positive vote. If we get that,
then the plan will be adopted.
“The long-term aim is that we have a
detailed plan with lots of positive input
from members of the public and it is
then adopted in 2016.”
Angela is also working closely with
Kerina Clark, Chair of the Aycliffe
Business Park Steering Group,
to incorporate their plans in the
neighbourhood plan too.
Questionnaires will be delivered to
homes by the end of August but will
also be made available online.