Shaping Faringdon

We took as the starting point, the Faringdon Healthcheck and identified key themes that were deemed to be important to Faringdon at the time it was carried out.  Delegates confirmed that the Healthcheck was still valid in Faringdon today.  Everything that arose from the event has subsequently been checked and found to be compatible with the Healthcheck findings. 

Delegates generated hundreds of ‘good ideas’ and possible economic development projects at the event and in many cases identified who could take these forward.  Vale officers then consulted with a wide range of people including: planning officers, the Vale's car parks team, community safety, the Vale's waste team, the climate change officer, Faringdon Town Council, Faringdon Chamber of Commerce and Focus on Faringdon.  We focussed on things that could be achieved in the short term and have worked these actions into this years Economic Development Action Plan. 

Many of the actions that you identified highlighted a need for even greater partnership working and we have taken this on board. 

So what hashappened so far?

 Many projects have arisen as a direct result of the Shaping Faringdon event.  Some projects were already underway and have been given greater priority as a result of the event.  We are very pleased to be able to report that a partnership has emerged across the 3 Vale towns (Faringdon, Abingdon and Wantage) and this group are working to promote all of the towns, including Faringdon in a forthcoming book ’52 things to do ... far from the madding beaches’, we have also issued press releases to promote the opening of the Folly Tower; Faringdon Town Council have created a committee of people who are working hard to save the Youth Centre and the Town Council are also creating a programme of arts events at the Corn Exchange and have worked with the retailers published a ‘find it in faringdon’ initiative (which was an excellent example of collective marketing) to promote businesses in the town centre.  Focus on Faringdon have been developing walking tours, promoting cycling routes, and are taking the lead with events such as the Faringdon Arts Festival. 

There are so many actions and projects that have arisen to go through them all individually.