Over the coming months, the Romsey Future Partnership will be undertaking extensive engagement with community groups in the Romsey area about their future facility needs and requirements. A series of workshops will be held during April and May with local interested parties, groups and residents, including with the existing users of the Crosfield Hall. The exercise is linked to the delivery of the aspirations contained in the South of Town Centre Masterplan for improved community facilities in the town.
Groups taking part in the workshops will be asked about the facilities they currently use and their future aspirations. The outcomes of the various workshops will be fed into a Citizens’ Assembly, which will be held in late June and early July. The Citizens’ Assembly will hear from representatives of all the groups taking part in the community engagement exercise, to understand their views and the outcomes of their discussions. Any community groups wishing to take part in the engagement should email romseyfuture@testvalley.gov.uk
The Citizen’s Assembly members will be given the time and opportunity to learn about and discuss the need for community facility provision in Romsey and the wider area. Through this process, they will hear balanced evidence on the issues before discussing what they have heard with one another and deciding what they think. The Citizens Assembly will, based on the evidence received, make recommendations for the specification of any new facilities and their location, including those to be provided as part of the bus station redevelopment.
The process will be independently facilitated. The conclusions of the assembly will be presented to decision-makers to inform the next steps in deciding community facility provision in Romsey, particularly in the south of town centre. Like the previous Citizen’s Assembly, which took place in 2019, those who take part will be randomly selected by an independent body to ensure that the assembly is representative of the whole population of Romsey and surrounding parishes.
The South of Town Centre Masterplan sets out the options for the future of the Crosfield Hall site for either parking, retail or residential use on the basis that alternative community facility provision would be provided. At this stage, no final decision has been made on the relocation of the Crosfield Hall. This element of the plan can only happen when a decision is made on how best to meet the future needs for community facilities for the town and wider area. The community engagement process and citizens assembly will help provide the evidence for this decision to be made.