Woking Borough Council Corporate Strategy – Woking For All - Effective partnerships

Our objective: Ensuring residents continue to benefit from a range of leisure, cultural and community facilities across the borough, including through unlocking the contribution of voluntary and community groups.

We will achieve this through:

• delivering the Community Asset Transfer Scheme to safeguard valued community assets such as centres for the community and pavilions

We have completed:

• procuring a new leisure contractor to effectively run our leisure centres
• working with partners to support the sustainability of community arts and culture venues

Outcomes:

• leisure operator mobilised successfully to deliver sustainable leisure services
• residents are engaged and have access to leisure, arts, and cultural activities
• community assets remain available to resident groups and residents

Success measures:

• new leisure contract commences at the end of 2025 in line with programme
• management fee increasingly covers costs
• centres for the community and pavilions successfully transferred to groups

Our objective: Responsible planning and development to support local place-shaping and the delivery of well-designed homes of all tenures.

We will achieve this through:

• adopting a sound Local Plan that facilitates the delivery of the spatial objectives of the Corporate Plan
• adopting a Design Code to steer high quality place-making
• implementing a new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule and associated projects list

We have completed:

• working with partners to develop proposals for Sheerwater redevelopment
• increasing Member knowledge and awareness of statutory responsibilities in bringing forward a new Local Plan

Outcomes:

• a Local Plan that defines the place we want Woking to be - adequate homes and opportunities for a vibrant economy
• investment in the local area and new homes built and occupied
• realisation of capital receipts to support the council's housing stock
• certainty for residents around plans for new development and infrastructure
• CIL information available to partners

Success measures:

• new homes delivered and sale of land completed in line with timeframe
• new Local Plan consultation stages delivered in line with project plan
• the council passes gateway assessments set by the Planning Inspectorate
• delivery of the infrastructure identified
• delivery of Members training programme

Our objective: Reach out and listen to our communities and act on their feedback.

We will achieve this through:

• consulting and engaging residents, partners, and businesses in relation to the development of the new Local Plan

We have completed:

• developing a tenant engagement strategy that builds on the results of our tenant satisfaction survey
• maximising opportunities for co-designing services with residents

Outcomes:

• tenant satisfaction survey provides a platform to take forward suggestions and benchmark progress
• increased future engagement
• residents, partners, and businesses given the opportunity to engage in the shaping of their communities
• revamped website developed taking account of resident feedback and usage

Success measures:

• completion and adoption of a resident engagement strategy
• follow-up survey to evidence improved outcomes
• evidence of a high number of responses to statutory Local Plan engagement