The Royal Borough’s Cabinet has agreed a vibrant vision for how the community would like Windsor town centre to evolve over the next 20-plus years, shaped through a major programme of engagement with the community itself.
Last year, the council worked with The Prince’s Foundation charity to involve residents, community groups, businesses and others in creating a shared view of where Windsor should be heading as a high-quality, distinctive and sustainable place to live, work, spend leisure time and do business.
The Prince’s Foundation led a programme of stakeholder engagement, implementing their Enquiry-by-Design process to engage a wide range of community and stakeholder representatives.
Through stakeholder workshops, public drop-in sessions and online surveys and tools, a number of commonly-occurring themes were identified that led to the development of a long-term strategic vision.
The vision for “A Vibrant Future for Windsor – An attractive, thriving and welcoming town for the local and global community” is supported by five vision statements, alongside potential strategies and actions for their delivery.
The key themes and vision statements are:
- The Local Community – Create a thriving local economy of business and community partnerships that benefit from Windsor’s global brand
- The Global Community – Deliver a world class visitor experience supported by a strong, diverse and resilient hospitality sector
- Transport and Movement - Develop sustainable, convenient and affordable travel options to travel into Windsor town centre for both residents and visitors
- The Built Environment - Protect and enhance the heritage, character and identity of Windsor
- The Natural Environment – Promote, activate and improve access to natural assets and resources.
As the next step, the council will prioritise actions within each theme and establish working groups to drive some of the actions, with several projects designed and delivered with communities.
Councillor Andrew Johnson, the council leader, said: “The council set out working with The Prince’s Foundation to ensure we delivered a genuinely inclusive, community-led visioning process, and we now have a useful and vibrant vision that reflects well the core themes and priorities expressed by those who participated. Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas and thoughts.
“This is a long-term vision but it reflects work that’s already happening in the shorter term, particularly work happening during 2023 around Castle Hill and other key locations to improve the public realm, attractiveness and ultimately enhance our resident and visitor experience.
“The Vision for Windsor complements our existing strategic plans, helping us to prioritise work for Windsor town centre, maximise opportunities and guide future decisions and collective energies of the council and potentially a range of partners.”
Councillor Samantha Rayner, deputy council leader and cabinet member for business, corporate & residents services, culture & heritage, and Windsor, added: “I’d hope that everyone who kindly helped shape the vision will see some of their thoughts reflected in the overall vision and thematic vision statements, which reflects people’s priorities and aspirations for maximising Windsor’s fabulous assets, strengths and future opportunities, while addressing its challenges.
“This is a shared, vibrant Vision for Windsor town centre. Recognising that the community’s vision can be best achieved through effective joint working with a range of partners, we’d like the constructive community involvement we saw in developing the vision to follow through into developing and delivering some of the actions. Thank you to everyone who took part and to The Prince’s Foundation.”
This decision by Cabinet is subject to the standard call-in period. Further information about the Vision for Windsor project is available here.