Agenda item

Contact: Helen Jakes, Senior Communications Officer.

The Board received a presentation which updated them on the Long-Term Plan Community Engagement, Field House and the Arcade. Jenny Tully and John Prendergast from Counter Context attended the meeting to update on the six engagement events that had taken place. 

The Board was advised that engagement work to date had been successful in reaching the public and a large number of people spoken to completed the feedback forms.  There were some consistent concerns around communication with a concern that although there is a lot of information available about the work of the Town Board, it was how that information was accessible for the public.

Helen Jakes, Senior Communication Officer for Kirklees Council advised that in relation to Field House, the banner that had been commissioned would go up on 2 August 2024 which would have a QR code directly to the Town Board website.  Ms Jakes advised that she was working with the Council’s communication team to promote it via a press release.

Regarding the Arcade, Ms Jakes explained that the aim was to get as many hoardings up as possible, which would outline the plans so that the public knew what was happening.  The hoardings will advertise the space available for businesses inside the arcade and will also advertise the Town Board.

The Taking the Lead campaign was a series of events and activities that had run over 18 months with clear indications of outputs and key achievements throughout the programme.

The Board was advised that the timing of the announcement of a general election had curtailed the ability to promote the events due to pre-election restrictions.

Ms Tully advised that a key message from the public was the communication from the Town Board, particularly the public not being aware that the Town Board meetings were open to the public and that they could attend and ask questions.   There had also been feedback regarding the continued closure of the Dewsbury Sports Centre and parking within the town centre. 

In total across the events and online, 476 feedback forms had been received with another 20 still to collect.  Over 1000 people were engaged with at the events, and 30,000 people had visited the website page with a total of 300 postcode areas being represented.

Ms Tully explained that the timing of the pre-election period had meant that the voice of young people had not been as strong in the communication, and now that the Long-Term plan deadline had been extended, this provided them with an opportunity to revisit the workshops to ensure the voice of young people in Dewsbury was represented.

The Board agreed that further work needed to be done to communicate with the public around the work of the Town Board, particularly via social media.  It was agreed that if official communication was put out by either the Council, Town Board or Counter Context, the Board members would endeavour to promote that via their own social media presence.

The Board commented that one of the Counter Context team didn’t live in Dewsbury, but it was confirmed that the team member had very strong connections with Dewsbury.

It was noted that the Chair and officers from the Council would meet with Counter Context to discuss next steps in relation to the continued consultation and would report back to the next meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED –

1)    That officers and Counter Context be thanked for their attendance and that the update be noted.

2)    That the Chair and officers discuss next steps of extending the consultation with Counter Context.