ONE WARRINGTON: ONE FUTURE
WHERE EVERYONE MATTERS
A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
FOR WARRINGTON 2009 TO 2030
Our shared vision for WarringtonOur vision is that:
“By 2030, Warrington will be recognised as one of the best places to live and work in the UK, where everyone enjoys an outstanding quality of life.”
This is deliberately bold and ambitious. We want to use the vision to galvanise and stimulate our collective efforts to achieve far more than incremental small scale improvement, or simply maintaining our current good position. We want the vision to generate equally bold plans and actions to take Warrington on a journey to fully realise its potential. We also want the vision to encourage partners to look ahead to the long-term future of the borough and seek sustainable solutions to current problems.
Being the best place to live will mean different things to each of us and will ultimately be tested by what people living and working here feel about Warrington. There are however some other ways of measuring quality of life and we will be monitoring each year how Warrington fares nationally on these indicators and we will let you know what progress is being made.
What do we want Warrington to be like in 2030?
Our economy…
- A competitive, successful economy with strategic influence throughout the North West, the UK and internationally
- The location of choice for national and international businesses with a high proportion of knowledge-based industries
- An employment rate amongst the highest in the UK
- Skilled and educated residents able to meet the needs of Warrington businesses
- Skills and employment levels within our more deprived communities that compare favourably to the rest of the borough as well as regionally and nationally
- A strong enterprise culture with thriving small businesses and more local ownership
- A thriving, alive and bustling town centre with lots for people to do and quality shopping that attracts people from across the region.
Our people...
- Are proud to belong to Warrington, celebrating our unique heritage and colourful past
- Are involved in their local communities and neighbourhoods, getting on well together and participating in local decision making
- Are able to access services locally and interact with each other within a network of community hubs which have grown up around our schools, colleges and community buildings
- Live in one of the safest places in the UK
- Choose healthy lifestyles and have life expectancies above the national average wherever they may live in Warrington, with far fewer deaths due to heart disease and cancer
- Remain independent in old age, fit and active for longer and playing a full part in community life
- Are inspired to reach their potential and eager to learn and develop new skills
- Have a great start in life and achieve excellent educational attainment results in our high quality schools and colleges
- Benefit from plenty of leisure and cultural activities for young and old to keep them stimulated and enjoying life
- Are tolerant and understanding of different generations, cultures and beliefs and welcome new communities into their midst.
Our environment...
- A vibrant, regenerated riverfront providing entertainment, cultural facilities, homes, hotels and offices, as well as walkways and recreation space
- Everyone has access to an affordable home that is of a high quality and reflects their needs
- A ‘green’ borough, having met and exceeded targets for our energy coming from renewable resources and CO2 emission reductions
- New technology, neighbourhood hubs and facilities connect communities to jobs and local services
- An effective, safe and efficient local transport infrastructure with people choosing to use public transport, cycle or walk rather than use their car
- The major transport gateways into Warrington are attractive and provide a positive impression for visitors. Clean and modern railway stations and interchanges provide good links to key locations across Warrington, such as the town centre and major employment sites
- A well-used network of attractive and clean green spaces with the River Mersey and our canals developed as a focus for local amenity and bio-diversity
- Well-maintained areas of natural beauty with local people and businesses taking responsibility to help in their upkeep.
Closing the gaps
In pursuing our vision we will prioritise closing the gaps in quality of life for our most disadvantaged communities.
Addressing the geographical inequality in Warrington and ‘closing the gaps’ in quality of life is by far the most important aim of the partnership. The gaps in income, employment, health opportunities and living conditions are some of the key challenges that need to be tackled in pursuit of our vision. These challenges are amplified under each of our five ambitions and reflected in some of the priorities and targets.
The introduction of neighbourhood working in the borough is an important development in addressing these inequalities. As neighbourhood plans are developed to address the specific needs of local communities, they will put in place the local actions needed to deliver this overarching principle and aim of the strategy. In this way, we will build our commitment to ‘closing the gaps’ into the work plans of all parts of the partnership. We have set ambitious targets to reduce these inequalities over the next 20 years. Each year we will measure our progress by producing a ‘closing the gaps’ report.
Our long-term targets
Throughout the strategy, you will see long-term targets for each of our ambitions to reflect what we hope to achieve for Warrington by 2030. We have also identified two high level targets that we feel best describe the vision. They are:
By 2030, residents’ overall satisfaction with Warrington as a place to live will be in the highest 10% nationally.
and…
By 2030, there will be no parts of the borough ranked in the most deprived 10% nationally.