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Planning the future of Welwyn Hatfield

A public consultation on planning the future of Welwyn

Hatfield opened on Monday 12 November 2012 and continues

until Friday 18 January 2013. The Core Strategy, which is part

of the Local Plan will guide the future development of

Welwyn Hatfield up to 2029 in terms of housing, jobs and the

infrastructure that needs to accompany growth -

including schools, shops and roads.

Probably the most important issue for local people will be the

amount of housing and where this is likely to be located, so we

are also consulting on a supplementary document called Land

for Housing Outside Urban Areas. This identifies locations for

new housing.The quickest and easiest way for you to respond is to use the

online consultation response form, which can be accessed via

our website www.welhat.gov.uk/localplan2012. However, there

are also paper copies of the documents and consultation

questionnaire available to view at the council offices

in Welwyn Garden City, local libraries and other

locations also listed on

our website.

Following a recruitment exercise during September, 100 new members have joined

the Borough Panel, so a very warm welcome to our new members!

Budget Consultation

Thank you to those who participated in

our budget consultation this year. The

results will be presented to Cabinet on 8

January when they consider the Councils

budget for 2013/14. A copy of the reportwill also be available to

view on our website

shortly after the

meeting.

Have you changed your

contact details?

Let us know at:

boroughpanel@welhat.gov.uk

or call: 01707 357216

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Council Tax Consultation

Thank you to everyone who completedour localised council tax support survey. As

well as inviting you to respond we also

consulted key stakeholders, council tax

benefit claimants, council tax payers and

owners of empty and uninhabitable

properties.

We were pleased with the response and

a number of suggestions made have been

taken on board. For example, we will be

providing the Citizens Advice Bureau

contact information on council tax

documentation. Overall, respondents were

in favour of our proposed localised council

tax support scheme. The consultationresults and the recommendation to agree

the scheme was presented to the councils

Cabinet on 4 December 2012. It will also

be presented to Full Council on 14 January

2013 for final agreement.

My Council Survey

In July, we conducted a postal survey to 3,500

randomly selected households to find out

residents perception and satisfaction with our

services. Of the 542 responses received, we now

know:

95% of residents feel well informed about

how and where to vote; 80% of residents are satisfied with Welwyn

Hatfield as a place to live;

77% of residents are satisfied with the

provision of the household recycling service,

74% with the household refuse service and

71% with household waste recycling centres;

69% of residents feel well informed about

how their council tax is spent;

62% of residents are satisfied with how the

council runs things;

41% of residents agree the council provides

them with good value for money;

The services highlighted by residents as most

in need of improvement in their local areawere: good roads and pavements (59%),

tackling parking congestion (42%), activities

and support for younger people (41%) and

tackling crime & anti-social behavior (40%).

These results have shown us where we are doing

well, as well as areas where we can do better. In

addition to all other consultations we have carried

out over the year, the results of this survey will

help us to consider our budget and our priorities

for 2013/14.