Welsh Government requires each local authority across Wales to develop 'Place Making Plans' to set out how they will identify, plan and deliver Place Making in each of their town centres. This involves putting the future needs of town centres at the heart of policies; decision making and local action.
Flintshire County Council is co-ordinating the development of Place Making Plans on behalf of a range of partners based on the local need of each town centre across Flintshire.
Welsh Government’s Place Making approach is closely aligned to its ‘Town Centre First’ approach which was launched in 2020, which aims to locate services and buildings in town centres to help breathe new life into town centres across Wales in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, declining retail sales and changes in the way town centres are used.
The purpose of Place Making is to co-ordinate existing plans and identify issues that people and places are experiencing, such as public and green spaces, vacant shops, accessibility and commercial and housing needs. This will be achieved through a process of consultation, both digital and face-to-face and will also be informed by town-specific data and commercial analysis.
Each of Flintshire’s town centres has different needs given they each comprise a unique mix of environmental, economic, social and cultural elements and therefore they have differing opportunities for Place Making activity.
As a result of the feedback from digital and face-to-face consultations and subsequent analysis, a range of priorities will be identified which will inform an action plan and vision for each town centre.
Of the town centres in Flintshire that require Place Making Plans, the first consultation events will target Buckley, Holywell and Shotton, with Connah’s Quay, Flint, Mold and Queensferry to follow within the next 2 years.
Give My View
What is important to you, matters to us.
Digital and face to face consultations to be co-ordinated by Flintshire County Council
Multi-agency Steering Group to consider consultation findings
Key themes and priorities identified
Town centre Place Making Plan developed
Welsh Government and Design Commission for Wales engaged
County Council to approve plan
Plan agreed amongst key stakeholders
Delivery of plan alongside key stakeholders
We are currently at stage 3: Key themes and priorities identified.
Once these have been discussed and analysed by key stakeholders and working groups, these will inform place making plan development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Place Making is a process taking place across each town centre in Wales; that aims to set a vision for the future and identify a range of activities that would benefit the place, local people and local organisations.
Information gathered through a Place Making process will be used to inform the development of future priorities for the area which are detailed in a plan for a defined area such as a town centre (or sometimes part of a larger town/ city). The plan will provide details about what actions are needed and are likely to be undertaken within the next 5-10 years by a range of people and organisations to bring about positive change.
Through having Place Making Plans, the Welsh Government hopes that local authorities and their partners achieve a more co-ordinated approach to working together in our town centres, identifying opportunities for investment and improving the area for local residents, businesses and visitors, amongst a range of other positive outcomes.
If you want to know more click the following link: https://www.dcfw.org/placemaking/
Like all local authorities across Wales, Flintshire County Council is required to develop Place Making Plans and involve local people in shaping the content of such plans in response to the needs of each local area. In response to this, Flintshire County Council is consulting local people both digitally and face-to-face as part of the development of its Place Making Plans for town centres across Flintshire.
The results of all Place Making surveys and consultation events will be used to inform Place Making Plans for Flintshire town centres. The results will be available to view from the survey and they will also be collated with other information gathered as part of the Place Making Plan process. This includes any data/ statistical information collected for each town centre and also information gathered from Place Making public consultation events, in addition to information exchanged between Flintshire County Council and its partners from the public, private and voluntary sector who are key stakeholders in our town centres.
Results from the Flintshire Place Making consultations will be shown on the Flintshire County Council website
Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet (Council’s decision-making body made up of local elected members) has decided that the work should be phased in light of the resources available and time needed to produce plans for the 7 main towns of Flintshire. Buckley, Holywell and Shotton were agreed to be part of tranche 1 of Place Making Plan activity in Flintshire, work that was started in 2023. Work to develop the plans for these areas is currently underway.
For each of the towns in tranche 1 of the Place Making Plan development, Buckley, Holywell and Shotton, three face-to-face session were held across February and March 2023. These events provided an opportunity to gather further opinions and perceptions from local people about their town centre and its future. The information gathered from those attendees will be collated with other data and feedback to inform Place Making Plans for Flintshire town centres.
Work on Place Making Plans for Connah’s Quay, Flint, Mold and Queensferry which form tranches 2 and 3 of Place Making Plan development, are ongoing through 2023 to be completed in 2024-25.
For any future face-to-face events relating to the development of Place Making Plans across these additional towns, please check back on this page or the news updates on Give My View
Flintshire County Council is co-ordinating the development of Place Making Plans on behalf of a range of partners based on the local need of each town centre across Flintshire. Welsh Government encourages local authorities to work collaboratively in the development and delivery of Place Making Plans.
o The initial consultation surveys for the towns in tranche 1 of the Place Making Plan development: Buckley, Holywell and Shotton, ran from 27 January 2023 through to 12 February 2023 and are therefore now closed. Work on Place Making Plans for Connah’s Quay, Flint, Mold and Queensferry which form tranches 2 and 3 of Place Making Plan development, are live from 12th March 2024 to 1st April 2024. Further information will be available when online consultation is available, both on this page or the news updates on Give My View
Any personal data provided is protected by GDPR regulations and no data will be shared with third parties. The information you provide will not be used for any other purpose other than the development of Place Making Plans in Flintshire.
The consultations do not collect information such as a specific location or identify individuals or their personal information, with the exception of gathering postcodes and e-mail addresses – but providing this information is optional whilst completing the online survey or attending the face-to-face events.
The information collected and answers provided by each individual is anonymised and presented as part of the overall data collected and as such, will not result in individual responses being identifiable.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to email regeneration@flintshire.gov.uk