Independent report supports Todmorden Town Deal Board’s use of past community consultations to help shape £17.5million Town Investment Plan

An independent report has confirmed that the contributions of Todmorden communities to numerous consultations over the past fifteen years, were a relevant and sound base from which many of the priorities and themes for the current £17.5million Town Investment Plan (TIP) could be identified by Todmorden Town Deal Board.
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The report by academic, Dr. Andrew P. Carlin, based at School of Education, Ulster University, found that Todmorden Town Deal Board got it right when they turned to the outcomes of consultations from 2004 to 2019 for the development of the TIP, as well as taking into account the specific government criteria, and local and national strategies, that they also had to satisfy. The TIP was successfully awarded £17.5M investment in July last year.

The report finds the past consultations to be: “excellent examples of urban potential, of future planning, of stakeholder sampling, and of community engagement,” singling out Todmorden Council’s 2013 ‘Town Plan for Todmorden’ as being especially significant and representative of local voices.

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The report demonstrates that key themes recur time and again when people have been asked what they want for the town. The report recommends that such consistency from community voices over a significant length of time should be taken seriously in developing any future plans for Todmorden.

Todmorden Town HallTodmorden Town Hall
Todmorden Town Hall

The report reads: “The historical consultations highlight themes of significant interest for the development of Todmorden. Many of these themes are present in each report. All of the reports look forward to development that can improve the local economy. While this is worded in different terms it is ever present and operative.”

Other themes put forward by Todmorden residents emerge as ‘a reiteration of familiar suggestions’ that appear consistently across the past consultations. These include transport, with bus/rail, cycling and car picked as priorities, space and land use, and sustainability and the environment. Housing that is affordable and accessible, improving existing leisure facilities and creating new ones are also consistent themes.

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Pam Warhurst, Chair, Todmorden Town Deal Board said: “The process of putting together a bid at this level and in ludicrous timescales allowed no time or scope for new consultations for the Town Investment Plan. Add to that a newly assembled Town Deal Board of skilled volunteers leading on this, and you have to use the evidence available. Fortunately for us, and for Todmorden, there were plenty of consultations to draw from.”

Dr. Andrew P. Carlin, Author, Todmorden: Consultations 2004 – 2019, Review, Findings and Conclusions, School of Education, Ulster University, with his new report.Dr. Andrew P. Carlin, Author, Todmorden: Consultations 2004 – 2019, Review, Findings and Conclusions, School of Education, Ulster University, with his new report.
Dr. Andrew P. Carlin, Author, Todmorden: Consultations 2004 – 2019, Review, Findings and Conclusions, School of Education, Ulster University, with his new report.
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As part of his report, Dr Carlin compares the current Town Investment Plan for evidence that the Town Deal Board took forward this consistency of public opinion in shaping the bid. His conclusion is welcome news for Todmorden and the Board, finding that what people had said in the 2004 to 2019 consultations were ‘valuable accounts for future work’, and, crucially, that the Town Investment Plan largely reflects those views.

Pam Warhurst added: “I’m pleased the recent report acknowledges the vision and hard work Todmorden folk put into previous consultations, but the conversation doesn’t, of course, end there. There will be opportunities coming up for people to comment and have their say on the projects once plans and drawings are ready. We know we can’t please everyone all of the time but it’s an exciting time for our town and I hope people will get behind the board and support us as we take things forward.”

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