Effective Partnerships

A Council that works in partnership with all communities to deliver positive outcomes and engages with residents to design more efficient and effective services.

Priority: Working with partners to deliver community priorities

Our objective: Ensuring residents continue to benefit from a range of leisure, cultural and community facilities across the borough, including through unlocking the contribution of voluntary and community groups.

We will achieve this through

  • Procuring a new leisure contractor to effectively run our leisure centres.
  • Working with partners to support the sustainability of community arts and culture venues.
  • Delivering the Community Asset Transfer Scheme to safeguard valued community assets such as centres for the community and pavilions.

Outcomes

  • Leisure operator mobilised successfully to deliver sustainable leisure services.
  • Residents are engaged and have access to leisure, arts, and cultural activities.
  • Community assets remain available to resident groups and residents.

Success measures

  • New leisure contract commences at the end of 2025 in line with programme.
  • Management fee increasingly covers costs.
  • Centres for the community and pavilions successfully transferred to groups.

Priority: A strong and sustainable economy with an enabling infrastructure

Our objective: Responsible planning and development to support local place-shaping and the delivery of well-designed homes of all tenures.

We will achieve this through

  • Adopting a sound Local Plan that facilitates the delivery of the spatial objectives of the Corporate Plan.
  • Working with partners to develop proposals for Sheerwater redevelopment.
  • Adopting a Design Code to steer high quality place-making.
  • Implementing a new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule and associated projects list.
  • Increasing Member knowledge and awareness of statutory responsibilities in bringing forward a new Local Plan.

Outcomes

  • A Local Plan that defines the place we want Woking to be - adequate homes and opportunities for a vibrant economy.
  • Investment in the local area and new homes built and occupied.
  • Realisation of capital receipts to support the Council's housing stock.
  • Certainty for residents around plans for new development and infrastructure.
  • CIL information available to partners.

Success measures

  • New homes delivered and sale of land completed in line with timeframe.
  • New Local Plan consultation stages delivered in line with project plan.
  • The Council passes gateway assessments set by the Planning Inspectorate.
  • Delivery of the infrastructure identified.
  • Delivery of Members training programme.

Priority: Informed and consulted residents

Our objective: Reach out and listen to our communities and act on their feedback.

We will achieve this through

  • Developing a tenant engagement strategy that builds on the results of our tenant satisfaction survey.
  • Consult and engage residents, partners, and businesses in relation to the development of the new Local Plan.
  • Maximise opportunities for co-designing services with residents.

Outcomes

  • Tenant satisfaction survey provides a platform to take forward suggestions and benchmark progress.
  • Increased future engagement.
  • Residents, partners, and businesses given the opportunity to engage in the shaping of their communities.
  • Revamped website developed taking account of resident feedback and usage.

Success measures

  • Completion and adoption of a resident engagement strategy.
  • Follow-up survey to evidence improved outcomes.
  • Evidence of a high number of responses to statutory Local Plan engagement.

Download the Woking For All strategy (file: PDF, size: 2MB)