By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire County Council is asking residents to reveal what’s “rattling their cage” in a new survey aimed at directing the authority’s long-term plan.
The Big Notts Survey, which opened today (August 2), is available to all residents in the county and will be used to improve their day-to-day lives.
Questions on issues like health, economics and Covid take centre stage, with the outcome shaping the council’s 10-year plan.
The authority will send a leaflet to 340,000 homes encouraging them to take part, before the survey closes on September 19.
The findings will then be discussed and debated by councillors in the autumn.
Councillor Bruce Laughton (Con), who represents Muskham and Farnsfield and is also deputy leader of the council, said: “We’re ripping up the process with our 10-year plan and we felt as though, this time, what’s the point in producing a plan without talking to the people of Nottinghamshire?
“We need to have a conversation with the people of Nottinghamshire to ask what they want from us.
“Whilst it won’t affect the day-to-day running of the authority, it will add aspiration to our plan and give us the thought processes to be able to change service delivery.
“We want them to ‘bare all’ and tell us what they think. We want to hear warts and all, so we can listen to what they say.”
Councillor Laughton says the authority particularly wants to reach out to communities who feel they may have been “left-behind”.
“I’m hoping they will engage with us and give us ideas to bring forward to make things better for them,” he added.
“We’re going to be asking questions about services and then about where Nottinghamshire County Council is impacting on peoples’ lives.
“But then we’re also going to be asking questions about what’s rattling their cage, what’s annoying them and where they think we can do better.
“We’re asking if there’s anything in their everyday lives the council should get involved in, and could improve. We need them to take part.”
The survey is available on the county council’s website. Residents can also pick up a copy from libraries, children’s centres and council buildings from August 9.
