3. A REVIVED COASTAL COMMUNITY TEAM

• Strong local partnerships, federations between public, private and community sectors, are an essential support to the delivery of the sustained positive change to be set out in the Town Council’s manifesto. Ryde’s great advantages, in the depth and breadth of community engagement in its way of life, have been very recognised, and rewarded, through the successful HSHAZ bid. A collaboration between the town council, the business association, Ryde Arts and the Ryde Society, amongst others, has therefore already been successful.

• An independent, democratic structure to support such a partnership is an important step in enabling successful actions to progress and extend. In the case of Ryde, such a vehicle already exists in the form of its Coastal Community Team, established in 2015 as part of joint working between Ryde Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce.

• Coastal Community Teams across the country have proven to be useful in resourcing local projects and programmes, through the Coastal Revival Fund, the Coastal Communities Fund, and as a recognised grant recipient for other funds, including Section 106 contributions.

• CCTs are fundamentally economic regeneration entities, and so a revival of the Ryde team (which has already published an economic plan) would potentially offer a way forwards for the work of the Ryde Regeneration Group, as well as establishing a strong local civic partnership to shape better outcomes for the town and its communities, from development proposals, public infrastructure works, NHS and CCG planning, and effective engagement with regional organizations such as the Solent Local Economic Partnership.

• By selecting key public places (such as those raised through recent consultations), small enough individually to be significantly improved, even with modest funds, but together extensive enough to create a coherent network of civic enhancements and each a short walk from the next (300m or less), it is possible to deliver visible positive change across the whole of the priority Town Centre and Seafront domain, extending up through the Monkton Brook corridor to join the urban extension land south and east.