Stony Stratford - The Future

Between January and May 2004 the community of Stony Stratford was engaged in a Market Towns Healthcheck, funded by the Countryside Agency and the Stony Stratford Town Council, facilitated by Paul Chaplin of Paul Chaplin & Co and Roger Kitchen of Kitchen's Ink.

The aim of the Healthcheck was to explore the issues facing the town now and in the future and for the community to devise a Vision of how they would like to see the town develop over the next twenty years.

A steering group has now been created to drive forward the vision and a draft constitution for Stony Stratford Futures Group is available for download here. The Futures Group now wishes to appoint a Projects Office.

Stony Stratford Projects Officer

The Stony Stratford Futures Group is seeking to employ an enthusiastic consultant to take on the role as projects officer to further the aims of the Market Towns Health Check. Details of the Health Check vision can be seen below.

Interested parties can obtain a job description from DW Roberts at 16, High Street, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes , MK11 1AF . Email accounts@dwroberts.co.uk

Please send applications, with CV, to DW Roberts at the above address by 12:00 on 1st September 2006 . Interviews for selected consultants will take place on Friday 8th August. The appointment will be initially for 6 months.

A BETTER FUTURE FOR STONY STRATFORD,
GALLEY HILL AND FULLERS SLADE

THE VISION
The following Vision is the product of:

over 30 meetings of individual Working Groups in the period January to March

2 meetings of the Chairs and Vice Chairs of those Working Groups (one of them also with members of the original Steering Group)

2 Open Meetings in which people in small groups produced detailed comments on the first draft

detailed comments provided in 63 returned questionnaires from individuals.

The Vision describes what it is hoped Stony Stratford, Galley Hill and Fullers Slade will look, feel and be like in 20 years time. However, nothing can be taken for granted, and no-one can guarantee that the changes we want will all happen.
What is certain is that Milton Keynes will nearly double in size in that period, and some of the other towns nearby are also earmarked for fast growth. At least double the numbers that use Stony Stratford now are likely to be using it in another 20 years.
In that context Stony Stratford must be clear about its own plans, and must be able to organise support for them. Otherwise the town will be shaped by the plans of other towns and other groups.
The revised Vision below was approved at the Open Meeting on May 17th. It does however remain a living document. It will be revisited and reviewed at intervals, when parts of it may be changed in the light of new developments.

A vibrant market town

a lively town that has not been afraid to change whilst retaining its own individual character and distinctiveness within the larger Milton Keynes and the wider sub-region.

a living and sociable town where residents can find most of the services they need to satisfy their day to day requirements

a town that continues to mix its history, character and attractiveness to visitors, with remaining a bustling and thriving local community and economy

a town that actively encourages and welcomes people from neighbouring villages and communities to use and engage in the town

a place that has positively includes Galley Hill and Fullers Slade residents and businesses in the life and economy of the “Greater Stony Stratford” through improved pedestrian and transport links and the development and siting of new facilities

Mixed population and mixed activities

a balanced and diverse population living in a wide variety of homes available for all age and income groups and household sizes

a strengthened community and voluntary sector, offering many ways of being involved in the community, and providing a range of diverse services and activities for local people, particularly for the young and the elderly.

a network of lively, well-maintained community spaces including drop-in facilities for young people and a redeveloped York House, having youth and community meeting and activity spaces, music and rehearsal facilities, and a full programme of different performances in its auditorium

varied and enhanced sports facilities welcoming to people of all ages and abilities developed through pro-active programmes of involvement and training by the local sports clubs

Thriving economy based on small firms

small firms continue to dominate the economy, the major factor in retaining Stony Stratford’s unique and rich blend of diverse shops and businesses, including many in the creative, knowledge-based and crafts sectors

the town is very compact, with many new businesses located in what were little roads and alleyways off the High Street: all businesses are in easy walking distance of each other: inter-trading between them is a strong feature of the town

there are different markets in Market Square, one or two days a week.

the wide variety of restaurants, pubs, cafes and programmes of music and other events makes Stony Stratford a popular evening and weekend venue for people further afield than its hinterland or even Milton Keynes: hotel and boarding house accommodation has been added to and significantly upgraded to cope with the increased demand

new live-and-work units, and other small businesses have increased economic activity in Fullers Slade and have helped to include it in the general development of the area

the Business Association has remained very active, and is a major reason why new businesses want to locate in Stony Stratford: it operates crime prevention and other joint programmes, and is involved with other networks in the wider issues of the town’s life and development

Organic growth

most new building has used available brownfield sites within the town, taking into careful consideration parking and traffic strategies: this has reinforced the closeness of the community: almost any service or shop a resident or business needs is within a few minutes walk, making Stony Stratford a particularly sociable town

along the London Road the Citroen car garage has been replaced with mixed tenure town housing and there is a ‘green barrier’ in front of the allotments

care has been taken to retain green spaces within the town and attractive routes link to the immediately surrounding countryside

the north and south entrances to the town have attractive and compatible developments that provide welcoming gateways to the town

'Take away Corner’ has been redeveloped to provide a more attractive setting for the facilities there, and provision has been made for safe bus and taxi pick up points.

the new heart of the town is Market Square, ringed by widely used cafes, wine bars and shops, and is the main meeting place for people of the town. It is largely car free but there is reserved parking for users of the Health Centre.

Safe and easy for people to move in and around

over the years lots of incremental changes have made Stony safe and easy to move in, both for car drivers and for pedestrians. This is thanks to a sutainable plan for traffic management, writeen nearly 20 years ago and reviewed on a regular basis. Some of the consequences of this have been:

the High Street is now much more pedestrian friendly

there is a range of parking for different needs

there are many well signed and well lit pedestrian routes that by-pass the major roads in the town

a network of safe cycle ways from the hinterland villages link with a secure cycle park in the town centre

issues of through traffic have been addressed - Wolverton Road and Horsefair Green are no longer main through routes

better bus services link the centre to other parts of the town, and to Wolverton Station and other parts of Milton Keynes

parts of Queen Eleanor St have been calmed and narrowed to make access to the wildlife area and to Galley Hill and Fullers Slade much safer and easier for pedestrians.

Still proud of its built and green environment

landowners and landlords take care with the fabric of the town’s historic buildings, encouraged by an extension of the Conservation Area and an active local heritage association

a Design Statement for the town ensures that all new building fits with the vision and with the established character of Stony Stratford, allowing it to grow organically and not become trapped only in the past

information panels and signs help visitors to find their way around the town and to recognise its many historical and architectural features

sound but discrete management has made the surrounding open green space clean, safe and attractive for people to use in a variety of ways

the riverbanks have been carefully managed to provide a rich biodiversity of water life, adding interest to the river and other walks, easily accessible from different parts of the town, and linking Stony Stratford cross country to neighbouring villages

A sustainable community

the community as a whole has embraced the value of lifelong learning, as part of sustaining the strong local community and economy, the latter increasingly based on knowledge based firms: the library is a learning hub, and a rich variety of adult education courses is available in Cofferidge Close in the old Open University offices

the community has both encouraged and actively supported all schools that serve the town to achieve excellence, reinforcing Stony Stratford’s attractiveness as a place to raise families in and for businesses to locate in

personal health and fitness is also encouraged: there are increased facilities and opportunities for participation in sports: there remain well attended allotments, and the town has become a centre of medical treatment, building on the success of an expanding Health Centre with a range of other provision, from chemists’ shops and dentists to holistic and alternative medicine.

Managing our own destiny

Stony Stratford’s development is conducted by the Stony Stratford Trust, established 20 years ago. Members of this are individual residents and workers in the town (including those in Galley Hill and Fullers Slade) with key networks, including the Town Council, the Business Association, the landowners’ group, the Ancell Trust, the reinvigorated community association, Milton Keynes Council, the Primary Care Trust, and the schools. All have worked to a common agenda, the vision agreed back in 2004, to the mutual advantage of each

the Trust ensures that all future planning is conducted transparently with opportunities for everyone to be involved and commits to regular public meetings and to reporting its work and decisions to the community of Stony Stratford.

the Trust is also a registered charity with the aim of building an endowment fund. It has access to funding sources that are not available to the Town Council and has become a key part of the town’s self-management and development both supporting the development of the community and continually strengthening the town’s infrastructure

the town actively promotes itself to visitors and businesses all over the world: a comprehensive website enables people to access every activity, including every business for information and for Internet purchasing: good signage leads people into the town, and a comprehensive visitor information centre helps them once they are there.