Building strong communities
We will build strong and resilient communities by engaging with our residents, delivering new housing and tackling social isolation.
Provide and maintain quality homes and invest in thriving communities
What we will do | How we will do it | How we will measure it |
|---|---|---|
Commit to improving the condition of our homes by investing in our housing stock
| Develop an Asset Management Strategy aligned to the HRA Business Plan that delivers Decent Homes compliance through planned work programmes | We will publish and maintain a 5-year Capital Works Programme and our progress against it by March 2025 We will refresh asset data through stock condition surveys, asset grading and maintain a validated compliance register. This is an ongoing process We will draft and publish an Asset Management Strategy by March 2025 |
Provide quality homes through managed growth | Seek development opportunities and work with other social housing providers to maximise the delivery of affordable housing | We will publish the HRA 30-year business plan to identify capacity for investment in new and affordable housing by April 2024 |
Deliver high-quality housing management services to empower our tenants and ensure communities prosper | Use customer feedback and engagement to shape the services we provide and continue our multi-agency community events | We will produce an action plan to deliver the priorities of the Tenant Engagement Strategy to include scrutiny of services by March 2025 |
July 2024 priority update
We have engaged an asset management consultant who is supporting the council in advance of the procurement of the new repairs and maintenance service. The draft Asset Management Strategy will be developed in October. We are working with Savills to refresh the HRA Business Plan and the draft strategy will be feed into the HRA Business Planning process.
he capital programme for 2024-25 is being delivered and looking ahead to 2025-26 we are in the process of developing the new capital programme. Primarily this will focus on the social housing decarbonisation works. We are utilising the stock condition survey data and will be working in partnership with the newly procured maintenance contractor to develop the five-year plan beyond 2026.
We are refreshing our strategic approach to compliance, focussing on bringing data management back into full council ownership and control. We have brought in a compliance transformation specialist to support us, whilst ensuring we deliver business as usual at the same time. We are exploring the best cloud-based IT solution and are in discussions with two of the sector leading providers of compliance data software with the aim of having these in place by the time the new contracts mobilise in April 2025.
We are reviewing our approach to tenant engagement, in order to meet the requirements of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023/Consumer Standards. Our priorities will be to extend our reach using digital channels and put in place effective scrutiny arrangements for engaged residents. In advance of this we are in the process of cleaning our tenant data around contact information/vulnerability/special requirements for access to services.
Plan for future housing needs in a sustainable way
| What we will do | How we will do it | How we will measure it |
|---|---|---|
Introduce a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to support the Local Plan and fund new infrastructure in the district | Work with a range of stakeholders, including Essex County Council, the NHS, water companies, and neighbouring councils to ensure adequate provision of infrastructure is made to support new development | We have an agreed Local Plan timetable (the LDS) which sets out that a Regulation 19 Version will be published in July, consulted on, then submitted to government in December 2024 |
Deliver a robust Local Plan that sets out a vision, and objectives, for addressing climate change, meeting future development needs in a planned and managed way, and setting out policies and standards to ensure that our historic and natural environment is conserved and enhanced | Prepare a draft Local Plan, for public consultation, utilising a range of approaches to resident engagement to ensure that all who want to contribute are able to do so. Use the outcome of consultations and best possible evidence to produce final plan for submission to government | We have an agreed Local Plan timetable (the LDS) which sets out that a Regulation 19 Version will be published in July, consulted on, then submitted to government in December 2024 |
July 2024 priority update
The emerging Local Plan is drafted for Cabinet and full Council consideration. It includes fully-evidenced and robust policies on climate change, and various other protectionist policies. It makes provision for the district's development needs up to 2041 and includes various design standards. This is in general accordance with the LDS programme. Publishing of the Regulation 19 Local Plan consultation was postponed by 11 days owing to the general election.
Work to bring in a CIL for the district has been scoped and will commence once the Regulation 19 work is completed in July 2024.
Tackle rural priorities
| What we will do | How we will do it | How we will measure it |
|---|---|---|
Draw together our understanding of issues and challenges particularly facing our villages and rural communities - including rural isolation, rural poverty and homelessness, rural economy, rural crime and safety issues etc.
Develop this into a coherent plan across of the range of interventions we and other partners both currently make and can potentially introduce to serve our rural communities to the fullest
| Work with our partner agencies, councils and communities to map out the issues and the interventions, and to stimulate a debate around priorities, leading to a new and coordinated plan
| The project's priorities will be mapped out in a 3-stage discovery, challenge and action process involving stakeholder representatives, through to to April 2024
Progress with the mapping of issues and services will then be tracked against the project plan developed
The ultimate product of this work is improved opportunities and outcomes for local communities, and those measures will be identified along the way as part of the process |
July 2024 priority update
Initial work on this priority has been delayed, but early scoping conversations have begun, and the broader initiative is now set to commence over the summer, post the end of the pre-election period and the General Election on 4 July.
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