ST HELENS TOGETHER: HAVE YOUR SAY
CONSULTATION FINDINGS “People thought that it was positive to be spoken to, listened to and engaged with”
Over the summer 2020 extensive community engagement was undertaken to give local people the opportunity to shape the long-term vision for the borough, give their views on how local services should be delivered and how residents could play a greater role in this delivery.
The consultation and engagement process was well received and people commented they felt that they had not been spoken to or listened to enough over the last few years. It was clear that people want to be part of the conversation about our borough and want to be involved and have a greater influence in the local decisions that affect them. The people of the borough are the greatest asset we have and it is clear that the council must enable and empower them to shine.
There were four main ways in which people participated: 1. Digital online surveys were completed by residents and St Helens Borough Council staff. 2. Reopened St Helens Borough libraries.
A key question posed at focus groups was “how do you want to describe the borough in 2030?” There were many words used repeatedly over several focus groups.
3. There were a number of focus groups held virtually through Zoom and Microsoft Teams with the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector, local businesses, care leavers, local councillors , Parish councils and St Helens Borough Council staff. 4. The organisation “PLACed” undertook some online engagement sessions and also two face to face socially distanced engagement sessions on Church Street in St Helens Town Centre. These sessions involved people sharing their ideas and writing them onto the shop windows.
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