Consultations help with economic plan for Gosport

Gosport Borough Council held four consultations giving people in the town the chance to express what changes they want to see.

It comes as the council’s Coastal Community Team has to create a five-year economic plan for the waterfront and town centre.

During the two-day consultation, people shared their thoughts on the heritage of the area as well as key skills for future employees.

And they looked at land use and business growth.

A spokesman from the council said: ‘The workshops proved very effective, covering a broad range of topics and ideas, which will feed into the final plan for the town centre and waterfront.

‘The people who came along said they were satisfied with the delivery of the workshops and appreciated the added opportunity to network with each other.’

He added: ‘The five-year plan needs to contain information on the needs of the area, particularly with respect to the local economy.

‘It needs to detail priorities and actions that the coastal team agree should be taken forward to address identified challenges.’

Around 40 people went to the consultations. They were able to have their say on questions such as:

n How could the team improve Gosport’s profile?

n What is your vision for the Gosport coastal community area?

n What positive changes could be made to support your business sector?

n What improvements could be made to make jobs and training services better?

Jeanette Perry, who runs the Voice for Gosport Facebook page, went to all four consultations.

She said: ‘It is good that the council put these on but I think some people were disappointed.

‘We got to share a lot of our ideas but on subjects that had been pre-determined.’

Notes from the consultation will be used by the coastal community team when it submits its five-year plan to the Department for Communities and Local Government at the end of this month.

The team was set up last year to improve the area.