Community Led Planning

This term covers the various forms of community self-assessment the Parish or Community Action Plan, a Market Town Healthcheck or the latest incarnation, the Neighbourhood Plan.

Whatever its name, the process should result in an action plan produced by, not imposed upon a local community. It sets out a vision to be acheived over a specified period of years supported by a detailed timetable of actions, potential partners and financial implications. It is up to the community to define the issues that need to be tackled and assign a priority to each as they develop their plan.

The Action Plan Toolkit, available from us on request, sets out a ninestep  process that:

• consults the whole community using a range of different techniques - not everyone will respond to a questionnaire;
• engages important partners from the beginning e.g. police, health, local authorities;
• covers the range of issues of signifcance for most communities - social, economic and environmental;
• identifies the specific local concerns and allows everyone a voice in prioritising them - some for immediate action, others for medium or longer term attention and some to be discarded altogether;
• proposes possible solutions, funding requirements and potential partners;
• concludes with the action plan, its clear statements of who, what, why and how? and a timetable for implementation.

Why produce a Community Action Plan?
Not a task to be undertaken lightly, for most communities this process will take many man hours and somewhere between 12-18 months to complete. So why go to all this trouble?

A properly executed Plan is a very powerful tool with many benefits:

• All local people, not just the confident, are encouraged to contribute;
• It develops community spirit, getting people involved and talking to each other even before the first project is completed;
• It provides well researched, quantified evidence of need, essential for good quality funding bids;
• It identifies the (often overlooked) positives as well as the negative issues;
• It will increase volunteering as people come forward to address issues of especial interest to them;
• It provides a clear mandate for local action that Town and Parish Councils can use to focus their efforts and resources;
• It is very useful in influencing others, such as local authorities, police, health and other agencies

           Home                                                                                                                            Next