31/07/2013 - Permalink

Share views at community events on life in Wem

Related topics: Community

People are being urged to share their views on life in Wem and new ways to meet priorities for the town.

A range of organisations – including Shropshire Council, town and parish councils, and voluntary and community groups – are looking at whether any improvements in how they work together could help ensure that services, from supporting young people to be healthy and active to providing help and advice for businesses, are right for Wem.

Anyone living, working or visiting Wem is invited to stop by at Wem Town Hall between 9am and 1pm or between 5pm and 7pm on Thursday 8 August to offer their thoughts and suggestions.

Organisations in Wem want to hear people’s ideas on different ways of designing and delivering services to ensure that they work effectively together, services are fitted to the community, don’t cost more than they should and are delivered by the best people to do the job. Partners aim to focus further support where it is most important, remove duplication and support local jobs and economic growth.

During the drop-in events members of the team will share some of the potential priorities for Wem which have been highlighted as information and research has been gathered in the initial stages of this ‘local commissioning’ work. People will be asked whether they think these could be the right themes to focus on and explore further – or if they have other ideas on where working differently could make an impact. They can also find out how to get involved as this work in Wem progresses further.

A local governance board is being set up to ensure the community leaders are at the heart of this work.

Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for local commissioning in the north of the county, said:

“People in Wem are being called upon to share views, information and ideas on opportunities for working together in different ways.

“Funding from the government for public services is reducing but by taking this approach, we can understand what is important to the community, help to make sure services are tailored to the town, get the most out of the expertise, funds and resources in the area, and better face the challenges ahead.

“We would urge people to come along to talk to the team, find out more and tell us their thoughts.”

Chris Mellings and Pauline Dee, Shropshire councillors for Wem, said:

“This is an opportunity to bring people together to consider what is best for Wem and how this can be achieved. We look forward to further discussion and work to look at the priorities for the town, and, developing services which reflect these, with a range of partners.”

The discussions and findings will be shared with community leaders before they are asked to agree the areas to focus on. It is then planned to trial new ways of working from the autumn to see how changes can better complement what is already happening in the community.

Local commissioning work has been piloted in Church Stretton, and is being extended to communities including Oswestry, Shrewsbury, and Craven Arms, as well as Wem.

For more details on the community events, or to share ideas if you are unable to come along, call Sue Thomas, Shropshire Council Community Action Officer, on 01939 237453 or 07582 002027.