Agenda item

To review the approach to communicating the regeneration programme (communications plan attached).  The Board are also asked to have an initial discussion on an approach to the consideration of changing trends in transport and car ownership and how the Council might need to respond, particularly in relation to the delivery of the Council’s regeneration programme and responding to the climate change emergency.

The Board received a presentation on the approach to communicating the Regenerating Rushmoor Programme.  Communication of the regeneration of Aldershot and Farnborough town centres was divided between the Council and Snapdragon Consultancy.  Snapdragon Consultancy were employed by the Rushmoor Development Partnership to lead on communication and engagement for Union Street, the Civic Quarter and Parsons Barracks.  A communications plan had been developed which covered all the key projects within the Regenerating Rushmoor Programme.  The current focus had been on Aldershot which had included articles in Arena in September and December, two editions of the Aldershot Town Centre Newsletter and updates on the website.  Other activities included email newsletters, artwork on hoardings, Small Business Saturday, Heart of Farnborough meetings and meetings were being arranged for residents on the Civic Quarter engagement.

There had been a variety of social media activities on regeneration since the start of December which included 12 posts on the Rushmoor Borough Council Facebook page and 13 posts on the Aldershot Town Centre page.  There had also been a number or tweets from both the Rushmoor Borough Council and Aldershot Town Centre accounts.  Instagram and LinkedIn were also being used and activity was increasing.  Public engagement events had been held at Princes Hall and the Wellington Centre which had been well attended, views were being sought online up to 9th February.

Over the next six months there would continue to be a focus on Union Street and place branding for Aldershot.  Initial engagement would be carried out on the Farnborough Civic Quarter with communications on the hoardings and demolition of Farnborough Community Centre.  Work would continue to build on the current approach, which would include more videos and social media activity with greater online engagement including Facebook Live.  There would also be non-digital engagement including regular town centre newsletters.

As the regeneration programme developed the communications plan would also evolve.  The communications team would work alongside the regeneration team and with a number of other bodes to maintain effective communications with a wide range of stakeholders.

The Board discussed the communication plan and the methods of communication used.  There were discussions regarding engagement with the Nepali community, identifying residents preferred method of engagement and increasing the number of email subscribers.  The Board was advised that, as part of the ICE Programme, there would be a Customer Relationship Management System which would ask residents if they agreed to other Council services accessing their contact details which would increase the number on the email database.  It was proposed that a peer review or sharing of best practice would be useful to see how communications was addressed in other areas.  It was also agreed that a Frequently Asked Questions document be compiled to address questions that were raised on a regular basis.

The Board received information on how the Regenerating Rushmoor Programme could be part of the response to the climate emergency.  There were a number of issues raised which would need to be considered as part of the regeneration programme in relation to climate change including sustainable design, heating and power, sustainable transport, green and open spaces and recycling/reuse of materials.  It was proposed that a task and finish group was established to complement the Climate Change Working Group to review what was currently going on, look at options regarding ambition against cost and deliverability and to shape a policy approach to feed into the next stage of master planning.  Nominations for representatives to sit on the Climate Emergency Regeneration Policy Task and Finish Group would be sought from political parties.