Flintshire: Over 3200 responses received for town centre place making plan

Public consultations focusing ‘Place Making’ Plan for  Connah’s Quay, Flint, Mold and Queensferry, have seen over 3200 Flintshire residents give their views on the towns, the council has said.

Place Making is a Welsh Government led process that aims to set a vision for the future and identify a range of priorities 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 each of the main town centres of Flintshire: Buckley, Connah’s Quay, Flint, Holywell, Mold, Queensferry and Shotton.

Through having Place Making Plans, the Welsh Government hopes that local authorities and their partners can achieve a more co-ordinated approach to working together, identifying opportunities for investment and improving the area for local residents, businesses and visitors, among a range of other positive outcomes.

Councillor David Healey, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economy said: “The public’s engagement with the consultations to date has been incredibly positive, showing the community’s interest in the development of their local towns. By sharing their opinion of the current and future position of the towns, members of the public can help shape the future of their towns, how they are used, maintained and developed.”

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet 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.

Digital consultation is currently live for the remaining towns of Connah’s Quay, Flint, Mold and Queensferry, during March 2024, with the final day to participate being 1st April 2024. The subsequent development of the plans for these towns will be completed one at a time over the next 18 months.

To date, from both the initial consultations from 2023 and those currently live, over 7600 respondents have contributed to the surveys. A result which reflects a wide range of opinions and the views of the local people of Flintshire.

As the plans are developed and a range of priorities identified, then Flintshire County Council will once again be engaging with the public and seeking their views on the emerging priorities for the towns.