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Projects Supported by Uttoxeter Plus
NEW ENTERPRISE CENTRE FOR UTTOXETER
Subject to planning permission, the Uttoxeter Plus Board recently approved a bid by Staffordshire County Council for £50,000 to provide 5,000 sq ft of first floor office/studio accommodation on the new development taking place in the Cattle Market. The accommodation with comprise of 10 individual office/studio units. These units will be let to both new and existing businesses on flexible monthly licences. It is anticipated these units will be operational by June 2006.
The Uttoxeter Healthcheck noted that the Uttoxeter economy was more heavily dependent on manufacturing than Staffordshire or the West Midlands as a whole. It also noted a static picture in the rate of incoming and new start-up businesses despite Uttoxeter's strong infrastructure. Whilst recognising the benefit that large manufacturers bring to the area, the Action Plan identified diversification of the economy as a desirable outcome. This led to a Business Premises Study being commissioned in 2003 to identify the potential to attract new businesses and support business start-up activity. This study noted that there was very little provision of modern purpose built commercial property in the town and surrounding areas. It also noted a demand for small companies in the office and service sectors maturing from "home-starts" now requiring purpose-built business premises.
MAYFIELD AND ELLASTONE COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDER GROUP
The Mayfield and Ellastone CRFG responded to 148 emergency calls during the period July – December 2005. The group provide 24 hour cover, 365 days a year.
NEW PLAYGROUND FOR ABBOTTS BROMLEY
"Project Playground" has been successful in securing £4,200 from Uttoxeter Plus to provide a safe and secure place for young people to play. Abbots Bromley has no current provision for the under 5's; this project will ensure an appropriately safe and suitable environment is created for them. The playground will be completed by July 2006.
NEW STREET NAMEPLATES
The first batch of new nameplates are being erected in the Town Centre Thursday 23rd June. Eaton Waygood Associates, based in Stockport, have been working with Uttoxeter Plus and East Staffordshire Borough Council for a number of months, designing and manufacturing the new plates.
ABBOTS BROMLEY COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDER
This project enhances emergency ambulance cover in the Abbots Bromley area by equipping trained volunteers to provide a first response service for ambulance emergencies. The volunteers are trained to Ambulance Service standards and are first on scene, reducing the amount of time from the receipt of a 999 call to emergency assistance being available at the scene of an incident.
Contact Bob Esling on 01283 840778.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FUND
The Business Development Fund, managed by Business Link Staffordshire, offered capital support to Staffordshire businesses in the manufacturing & service sectors to help their business expand, increase turnover and create new jobs. The fund was available to new ventures and companies falling within the Small and Medium Size definition of up to 250 employees.
During the lifetime of the project 4 businesses were expanded and 2 new businesses start ups assisted. 19 jobs created and 6 secured. 32 existing businesses received business advice as well as 5 new start ups being advicsed.
BUSINESS PREMISES SURVEY
The Business Premises Survey was designed to provide clear information on the demand for and availability of business premises in the Uttoxeter Plus area. It looked at the current provision of land and premises and highlighted the challenge of providing suitable premises to meet the growth of existing businesses and the location of new businesses in the area. Information generated by the Survey has been used to inform the development of the Masterplan for Uttoxeter Town Centre and has been used by East Staffordshire Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council in considering their actions in the Uttoxeter area.
Contact Martin Ludlow at East Staffordshire
Borough Council on 01283 508853.
CELEBRATING UTTOXETER 2004
Celebrating Uttoxeter 2004 marked the Golden Jubilee of Uttoxeter Morris with some 200 Morris dancers and musicians from across Britain bringing dance and music to the Uttoxeter area in the largest gathering of traditional dancers seen in the Midlands this decade. Highlights of the weekend saw massed displays of dancing in Uttoxeter, travelling tours around the district and a procession and massed dancing in Abbots Bromley.
Contact Keith Hutchinson on 01283 761088.
CHAMBER NETWORK CLUB
Uttoxeter Plus has supported the creation of a new Networking Club in Uttoxeter that is proving that local businesses can benefit from finding out who their neighbours are. The breakfast club, which is co-ordinated by the Chamber of Commerce, has already attracted a wide variety of local business people who use the occasions to promote their businesses and find out what products, supplies or services are available locally. The group is rapidly becoming the voice for businesses in Uttoxeter.
Contact Chris Towe at Burton & District Chamber of Commerce on 01283 563761.
COMMUNITY CHEST
The Community Chest provides grants of up to £1,000 for local groups, who want
to take action to improve the local area, encourage involvement in community
activities and improve local facilities.
DESIGN THEMES FOR UTTOXETER
This project takes recommendations from the Town Centre Masterplan and develops them into practical design schemes for the centre of Uttoxeter and key locations in the town centre. These include an overall implementation framework, the High Street, Market Place, Land off Town Meadows Way/Brookside Business Park, a shop front design manual and in the longer term will include improvements to Picknall Brook and the Railway Station Approach. The aim is to enhance Uttoxeter's unique character by producing well-designed public areas in the town that will also accommodate accessibility requirements for all users of the town.
HOME-START RURAL OUTREACH
This project is to recruit and train volunteers to work directly with families who are experiencing stress or difficulties and have at least one child under 5 years of age. Volunteers benefit from extensive training and support and the families supported gain a new source of support and advice during times of stress that make a significant difference to their quality of life.
Contact Amanda Newbold at Home-Start East Staffordshire on 01283 566684.
OLD RAILWAY NATURE WALK
The Old Railway Nature Walk will transform a neglected patch of land in Pennycroft Fields into a new wetland trail with conservation areas to encourage wildlife and improved picnic facilities for visitors. The local community and nearby schools will have a say in how the walk is developed by contributing ideas for the development of the picnic area, interpretation panels and new arts features.
Contact Corrine Holland at East Staffordshire Borough Council on 01283 508000.
RAILWAY STATION IMPROVEMENTS
This project will improve the environment and personal security in and around the station. It will deliver enhanced facilities for disabled persons, improved lighting and security, new shelters on the station and bus stop and new pedestrian signing and information boards.
Contact Chris Wilson at Staffordshire County Council on 01785 276670.
RED MEAT SURVEY
This Survey aims to establish the level of consumer demand for red meat and red meat products, assess the production levels in the Uttoxeter Plus area and find ways of matching the two together to increase consumer demand for local products. It will also examine how the existing local supply chains could be further developed providing benefit to businesses in all parts of the supply chain as well as local consumers.
Contact Tony Turner at ADAS Consultancy on 01902 693489
SHOP FRONT IMPROVEMENT SCHEME
The Shop Front Improvement Scheme offered grants of up to £5,000 (up to 50%
of the cost of works) for business premises in the main shopping area of Uttoxeter
to improve their frontages. A design guide and professional advice was available
free of charge to assist applicants in the initial stages of preparing a design
and submitting an application.
Contact Martin Ludlow at East Staffordshire Borough Council on 01283 508853.
SYNTHETIC PITCH FOR UTTOXETER
Uttoxeter Plus joined Staffordshire County Council and local schools in supporting development of a new synthetic playing pitch in Uttoxeter. The synthetic Pitch was handed over to Thomas Alleynes School in 2006. The pitch has benefited from the installation of floodlighting to enable community use in the evenings and at weekends.
Contact Amy Frances at Staffordshire County Council on 01785 278952.
THE CELLAR YOUTH CLUB
Young people using the Youth Club at Thomas Alleynes High School will soon benefit from the addition of two new rooms thanks to the fund raising efforts of Uttoxeter Rotary Club. The Rotary Club successfully bid to Uttoxeter Plus and other funding bodies to extend the facilities at the Youth Club With Uttoxeter Plus being the major contributor to this project.
TRAINING UTTOXETER
Training Uttoxeter is a new innovation from Thomas Alleynes High School using its Technology College status to provide specialist IT support to small businesses in the Uttoxeter Plus area. Many businesses have not yet tapped into the full potential that IT has to offer in creating efficient business systems and Thomas Alleynes have the expertise to assist a small number of businesses to tap into this potential by training staff in specific areas to assist their business. The process starts with an analysis of the particular needs of the company and the level of support and training is negotiated and agreed at this point.
Contact Alan McBride at Thomas Alleynes High School on 01889 561820.
TOURISM RESEARCH
A small research project into tourism in the Uttoxeter area provided a variety of views on what Uttoxeter has to offer. The survey of leisure and business visitors to the area supported the need to enhance what Uttoxeter has to offer if it is to encourage visitors to spend time in the area. Key issues identified by visitors included items such as improving the appearance of the town centre, improving signage and better information about the area. Uttoxeter Plus will be addressing many of these concerns through its work to rejuvenate the town centre, which includes actions to improve the image of the town, provide better quality direction around the town and revitalise the tourist information that is available for visitors to access.
UTTOXETER FARMERS TRAINING GROUP
Through the establishment of Uttoxeter and District Farmers Ltd 15 local farmers have committed to take advantage of the way that information technology can improve the efficiency of farm businesses and share a vision of using a standardised record system to provide information for their own businesses and to carry out comparative analysis within the group. With each member of the group starting from a different skill level the group have committed to undergo training and skills development to drive this vision forward. The group was awarded the Skills Commitment Award by Regen WM
Contact Trevor Beech at Uttoxeter and District NFU on 01889 562465.
UTTOXETER INTEGRATED TRANSPORT STRATEGY
Development of an Integrated Transport Strategy for Uttoxeter took a strategic look at transport and accessibility issues in Uttoxeter and the surrounding areas. A partnership of different organisations with an interest in transport issues joined together to support this work. Development of the strategy started by examining what policies & strategies covered the area, what transport services are available and how accessible key settlements around the area were. From this 11 possible policy solutions were debated, looking at their potential benefit and cost of implementation. 5 of these have been taken forward for implementation over the next 3 to 5 years.
UTTOXETER TOWN CENTRE MASTERPLAN
The Uttoxeter Town Centre Masterplan presents an exciting vision of how Uttoxeter can fulfil its potential as a vibrant, multi-functional and attractive town centre where people want to live, work and visit. Published in September 2003 the Masterplan has become the key planning document for Uttoxeter. It has influenced the plans of Staffordshire County Council, East Staffordshire Borough Council and Uttoxeter Plus producing a combined commitment of £2 million for town centre improvements over the next 3 years. The project won the Open category of the West Midlands Market Towns Awards 2004 in recognition of its long term and strategic commitment to improving the town whilst ensuring that the local community were involved in its development.
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