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Launching on Wednesday 30 August, the council will be offering various ways for local people and organisations to help shape the council’s work until 2027.
The council’s current vision is to be open, fair and green, so people will be asked whether they think this remains the right focus for the area. They’ll also be asked for views on four draft ambitions for North Somerset:
- For our children and young people to feel cared for, safe, supported and given equality of opportunity to thrive.
- For our communities to be caring, healthy and safe, where people help each other to live well.
- For our towns and villages to be thriving and sustainable places to live, work and visit.
- For our council to deliver consistently good services and value for money to support an ambitious community.
Cllr Mike Bell, who’s the Leader of the Council and responsible for finance said: “The next six weeks are local people’s first opportunity to tell us what they think about our emerging ideas to make North Somerset an even better place over the next four years. We’re really keen to hear people’s views and I encourage everyone to get involved.
“We're also going to be in touch with town and parish councils, organisations we work with, voluntary groups and businesses to get their thoughts.
"We'll make sure we get views from people representing equalities groups and are really keen to hear young people’s views too. In the past we have struggled to get feedback from young people when we ask for community views, so we’ll be making sure we hear from them and understand their hopes for the future.”
At the same time, the council is also looking for people’s views on the budgets which will support the delivery of the plan. The council continues to face increasingly difficult financial challenges to the point where tough decisions will be needed about the services it delivers.
Cllr Bell added: “Our financial pressures haven’t gone away, so it’s really important that at the same time we’re planning our priorities for the next four years, we’re also looking at how we can make best use of limited resources to support our ambitions.
“Not everything can be a priority, so we also want to find out about the things people think we should be spending council taxpayers' money on. Understanding what our communities value the most as well as the things they think are less important will help us prioritise public money in the right places.”
The engagement survey will be online at https://n-somerset.inconsult.uk/consult.ti between Wednesday 30 August and Monday 16 October. Paper copies will also be available at all North Somerset libraries. There will be a series of in person opportunities planned over the coming weeks.
People will also get the chance to share their views at the September North Somerset Live virtual Q&A event at 6pm on Thursday 21 September. More information about these opportunities will be included on the website and in further announcements from the council.
After the engagement period ends, the draft plan will be developed before being shared publicly during November for more formal consultation among the local community. The responses to that consultation will inform the final version of the plan that will be presented to councillors in the new year for approval alongside the annual budget.