The Saffron Walden Healthcheck was undertaken in 2004 by the Saffron Walden Initiative, a local partnership, with funding and advice from the Countryside Agency and practical assistance from Uttlesford District Council (UDC), Saffron Walden Town Council (SWTC) and others.

It is a community-based piece of research, voluntary rather than professional, that aimed to measure the relative wellbeing of the town and the surrounding area that relies on it for goods and services. The purpose of this exercise was two-fold:

a) to assist the development of a robust community partnership for the town, and

b) to put together a plan of action, rooted in local circumstances and opinion, to help support a sustainable and successful future for the town and village communities of this area. Some of the findings support what has already been identified elsewhere, but there are both differences and new emphases that are specific to Saffron Walden as compared to the wider district. What the Healthcheck has produced is a body of evidence to justify specific projects and in some cases new working arrangements.

See the resulting Action Plan

Read the Final Report (September 2004) (pdf file)