The process
The process undertaken was split over an evening a day and a morning, allowing two "soak" times when participants had a chance to think and reflect.

We began by looking at the past, from a personal, local and global perspective. The timeline ran from 1966 (when Market Harborough began to grow) to now. We then reviewed the timeline to see what themes and patterns have shaped our community.

There was then a focus on the Present, through use of a Mindmap with Market Harborough in the centre. This group brainstorm showed trends impacting on the town which in the end produced a picture to provoke thought and discussion.

We then needed to identify those themes that were impacting on the town today, from the point of view of the different stakeholder groups present. Each group was asked to map out the themes which were important to that group and for each theme say what are doing/want to do about them.

Still in the stakeholder groups we were asked to find out how we felt about what we are doing now, through a list of "Prouds and Sorries" that was shared with everyone. This cleared the air so we could look to the future.

Next we imagined a future for the town in 5, 10 or 20 years. We had to Visualise and describe Market Harborough as we really want it as if we were living in the future. This was then shared with the group in any way we liked – most people did "playlets".

From this we could identify common ground for the future, what we as a whole group wanted to the town to be. We collected examples and ideas that groups thought of as ways to get there – how we may do it. These we grouped into themes and overarching ideas to summarise them.

We then worked groups based on the theme you cared about most to clarify vision/goal for the theme, identify outcomes and measures and identify action plans.

Finally, we went back to our stakeholder groups to review what had been decided from that perspective. Most people wanted to be involved in the process beyond the event.

Our thanks to all those who took part.

Final and over arching themes

Essentially the two issues facing the town are maintaining and improving the quality of life and coping with growth. These are probably no different than those in any similar town across the Country. To understand these further we have to look deeper into these. Five overall areas were identified and within each a range of themes emerged. These are summarised below:

Business and education
- markets
- tourism
- work opportunities

Environment
- traffic management
- green environment
- environment – built / green buildings
- affordable housing

Cultural opportunities
- community arts
- leisure
- youth
- community buildings

Safe and secure communities
- controlling our own destiny
- keeping MH safe

Health, education and lifelong learning

Detailed issues and ideas brought up

These were the ideas each theme group came up with, based on the larger group of themes agreed by the whole group, from which these are drawn. The full list of ideas is given in Appendix 1.
1. Business and economics
Scoping exercise for opportunities for business
Markets – need to improve what is offered
Tourism - sell the town more
Work opportunities

Market – key draw to town and important feature
Looked at outdoor and indoor market separately

Tourism
Sell MH better to people who might otherwise pass by – better signage/brown signs
Visible signs, works of arts, ideas of things on roundabout (canal barges)
Do we know where visitors come from?
Need tourist information centre – in prominent position?
Events list and timetable – coordinated process
Get our act together for the Olympics

Work experience and skills development
Work experience week
Liaise with schools and businesses
Can we explore reasons why people are not in employment – why?
Young people will use take-over radio scheme for a day

2. Cultural opportunities
Cultural arts
Leisure
Young people
Community buildings

Be a inclusive and provide facilities for the community to enable established groups to use facilities in place, include youth in this process (give opportunities to be involved) helped them take ownership

Short term opportunities – signpost existing individual groups and networks – communication – get people talking to each other.
Utilising existing facilities and funding
Community action note to promote activities in town
Action plan – all know where we are going, and who is point of contact?

Medium term opportunities – climbing wall or some other types of provision – possibly in leisure centre
Feasibility study – who will be in buildings, how will it be funded
Community festivals - make sure schools are involved
Engaging schools with professional organisations
Needs assessment

Long term opportunities
Implementation of community building – where is it, who is included
Exploit pedestrianisation (with colleagues)
Make inclusive community facilities

3. Safe and Strong communities
Coordination of message around crime / safety
Collecting intelligence
Young people and schools

All sub-committee work on things from here to have representation of all ages
Public relations – people's perception of police (if positive)
Improve leisure activities means people are less likely to get into trouble
Engagement with schools – particularly primary and Welland Park
Exploring alcohol exclusion zone – but then where else do people drink

4. Social care, health and learning group
Short term opportunities
Audit of extended service – see what provision there is at the moment
Improve / make easier access for people to information of
Lobby to keep community hospital
Set of committee of high profile people to effect social change (inter-agency committee)
Make contact regarding community school liaison
Publicise community involvement in adult education

Medium term opportunities
Children's centre – 2008 Government agenda to provide meeting place, training room, toilets and advice centre that focuses on children from 0 to 4 years of age.
Looked after children
Lobby for community hospital
Improve communication about health services available
Seek information about population increase and need to increase education provision

Long term opportunities
Achieve solution to hospital issue
Local skills training centre
Increase in level of skills of H residents
Improvement in self—help self-care
If necessary provide more schools with more places

5. Environment
Short term opportunities
Litter – no reason why people can't start to pick up litter – few more bins on St Mary's Road. If someone fined, why can't community service people be put on little picking
Tree planting going on – funds available. You don't just plant a tree – need to water it and look after it
Plastic bags – no reason for supermarket not to have paper bags. We can say we don't want plastic bags. Don't buy things in plastic
Graffiti – quite well controlled and not an awful lot of it – would like to keep it that way – why not provide graffiti wall
Better education on schools on climate change
Walking – encourage walking – as well as cycling – all cycle tracks join up together (plans in place – looking for funding)
Need Fair-trade sign as you come into Market Harborough
Bulb planting as you enter town
Year round Harborough in Bloom – not just when judges coming
Ask shops to sweep up outside of an evening
Tow-paths – contact British Waterways to keep the paths better than they are now
Millennium Mile started – due completion 2008
Saturday and Sundays – why don't we say one Sunday a month stop traffic coming into the centre of the town and have events) Rome do it

Medium term opportunities
Enforcing builders to toe the line
Enforcing builders to build attractive houses
Speeding – villages allowed to use speed traps
Remodel town centre

Long term opportunities
Micro-generation – form of heating and lighting
Pedestrianise centre of town

Within our five over-arching themes, some issues cut across all and must not be forgotten, these are:

Opportunities for disabled people
Actively engaging people
Health
Planning – floodplain, buildings etc
Working with young people from birth
Reduction of poverty – getting out of poverty
Community safety
Creating a socially inclusive Market Harborough

How we got there - Initial areas of concern

Firstly within our stakeholder groups and then as a whole group we looked at those areas that concerned us now, what we were doing about the and that we would like to change for the future. The results for this are shown as a Mind map for the whole group and as ideas from each smaller group.
Mind map


Highest number of dots – each person had 6 dots and these were used to indicate those areas of most concern
53 – Decrease in youth facilities
52 – Quality of life in Market Harborough – however 17 of these were about the lack of youth facilities
38 – Increasing number of students
28 – Health
27 – Lack of control of M.H. destiny
27 – Need more affordable housing
22 – Crime and fear of crime


Each stakeholder group's areas of concern

Purpose: Find out what we care about, what we are doing, and what we want to do


Education
We care about lifelong learning and how it can influence change on all issues on the mind-map
We are involved in early years, youth work, adult education and extended schools
We would like to provide a seamless, responsive and non competitive lifelong education service to Harborough residents (and Market Harborough!)
Key Trends
Government agenda often produce unhelpful pressures / competition for funding. How can we influence government?
Undercurrent of disadvantage in an affluent area (young single parents, travellers, migrant workers, people with mental ill health and disabilities)
High number of older residents, widows, widowers (Univ of 3rd Age and adult education service provide some opportunities)


Leisure
Shortage of facilities
Large auditorium
Cinema?
Sports hall
Organisers – we have people willing to run clubs etc
Youth: range of facilities needed. Not all will want to be organised!


Youth
Stereotypical views of youth
Lack of youth facilities
Crime and fear of crime
Antisocial behaviour
Do we need 6 supermarkets?
Too many multi-national businesses
Overcrowding
Education
Environment
RSS Green Flag
Increased litter

Lack of youth facilities
Very little for youths to do
Causes anti-social behaviour
Causes crime and fear of crime
Causes stereotypical views of youths
Some youth facilities: Cube, satellite, enigma under 18 club nights
More popular facilities e.g. cinema, bowling, arcade

Environment
Increased litter
Schools are making the effort
Need more bins
Recycle, reduce, re-use
Small plastic boxes
Renewable energy e.g. solar panels
Youths are helping, need support from everybody

Business –
Don't want too many multi-national corporations
We want individuality as a town – not a city like Leicester
Lack of variety, very similar shops
Lack of employment opportunities

Community Development
Trend 1 – Lack of youth facilities
Youth involvement / parental control/social disorder/ less tolerance / social/economic factors
Peer pressure / media control – cause
Travel/knowledge

What we are doing
Schools educating
Direct engagement i/c LA
Health education
Homestart
What we want to do
Profile of H/workers
Intergenerational activities
Cinema: community resource
Sport
Like to recognise the diverse needs of young people, integrate them into the planning of services. Provide opportunities with young people to work together

Trend 2 – affordable housing, appropriate housing
Does not just include "mortgage" – rent, 1st time buyers
No infrastructure support / employment in Town an issue (low paid)
Encouraging people to get into debt

What we are doing
LA – proportionate development
Begin to develop a suitable economic plan to support ideal (partnership with builders)
What we want to do
Landlords – long term leases required
Develop a strong infrastructure to support housing
More social housing with a better infrastructure to support

Trend 3 – Health
Lack of dentists, GPs, hospital
Closure – choice? Travel an issue, transport and parking
Ageing and young population
Schools – education on drugs
No nit nurses – general checks – health visiting
Mental health an issue
Prevention
What we are doing
LA – physical activity project
Healthy eating projects
Walking projects
Health forum
Leisure Centre – too small
Schools policy on PE and healthy eating
Harborough in Bloom – growing veg in schools
Harborough sports club
What we want to do
New hospital
Better aces to GPs and dentists
Drugs – sort
Mental health – work to integrate better

Doing quite well but hampered by Government policy. Good at prevention but need action

Trend 4 – Limited employment choices
Particularly for 16 – 26 year old. What happens to young people who do not want to go on to college etc. Travel to City expensive and takes time. Also for all people – lots of working mothers etc. HDC

What we are doing
HDC and Sainsbury / H. Rubber biggest employers
Bars opening all over town – possible p/t work and youngsters

What we want to do
Work experience to lead to sustainable employment
Schools work closely with employers
Attract new business to outskirts of town

We are not close to addressing this – it is a priority if we want to encourage our young people to stay


Residents and Villages
Trends
Population growth
Urbanisation
Loss of local identity
Incoherent infrastructure
Inappropriate planning and development

Doing
Complaining
But also acting – we are here today, we have campaigns etc – Parish Councils
Want to do
Restore local decision-making
Building enforcement
Transparent political processes
Town Council
BUT – very limited influence



Community Safety
Section 17 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA)
Partnership working
Raising awareness of S. 17
Tackling fear of crime
Reassurance
Increase understanding of duty of public services
Mainstream S. 17 into everyone's duties
Sustainable youth facilities

Fear of crime and perceptions
Reassurance
Low crime rate
Improve CC TV
Positive stories
Increase intelligence and detections
Increase vigilance
Lower fear and perception of crime

Drugs and Alcohol issues
Impact on health professionals and partners
Providing education and diversion
Response times for health/paramedics
Providing more education and diversion
Changes to health care / community care
Increase awareness of consequences



Council

Youth facilities
Council supports sport activities
Few ??? youth clubs (LLC, Cube)
Need for social/leisure opportunities
Not enough!
Some work starting
More from this event
(Limited £ - need partners)

Population/Housing
New "Local Plan" (L.D.F.)
Influencing future housing numbers – down
Influencing design
Affordable housing
Influence Structure 6 lags building
L.D.F.
R.SS
New affordable housing requirement
Proactive with PCT etc

Quality of Life
Leisure provision (planning)
More trees/better design
Encourage volunteering
Need to include in "plans"
Funding and support – do more

Transport
Less lorries than before Bypass but more car traffic (as nationally)
Need to encourage alternatives to car
Need more bike parking



Business
1. Growth is good, (up to a point), more customers, more choice of staff
2. Increase traffic, increase house prices, strain on current infrastructure
3. Protection of independents/local business (live locally, school locally, shop themselves in town)
4. Youth needed or low skilled jobs, but opportunities needed for more training and skill enhancement
5. We acknowledge bowling/cinemas will only arrive with a population growth / will provide employment and enable local economy and commercially viable
6. Lack of plan to incite growth of business
7. Concern over available in-town retail/commercial space becoming housing

To attract big names with money there must be a balance of independents to keep up market town

Tourism is not seen as a priority on Council funding

Businesses are not encouraged to be environmentally friendly – when costs rise greatly


When these different trends were presented there was a whole room conversation where some additional comments were made:

Dichotomy – nice place to live but need to manage population growth
Youth – want to keep Market Harborough as it is
Population growth – current infrastructure can't cope. Developers need to stump up money for development of shops, school, leisure activities
Need cohesive plans for the infrastructure
30 years ago it was seen as a town of older people with a lack of youth facilities – has anything changed!!!

Appendix 1 - Timelines
The timelines were the first thing we did to help us all develop a picture of our world, from a personal, local and global perspective. It "set the stage" for what came next, in terms of where we had come from and what had been happening.

Appendix 2 - Prouds and Sorries
Each stakeholder group had a chance to look back at the past and what was going on now and say what they were proud and sorry about, to set the stage for the future.

Appendix 3 – detailed theme outputs

These give more detail into the themes that emerged that we want to change for the future. Often they are repeated, as many groups had the same ideas that went onto one overall list on the wall.