Community Led Planning

In September 2008, ACRE sent out a survey to the 38 members of the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN) asking them about Community Led Planning in their area. The results from this survey provided an overview of CLP activity nationally.

Community Led Plans supported by RCAN

It was estimated that 4,000 – 4,500 communities had been supported by members of RCAN to produce a CLP since the early 1970s
Approximately 3,000 CLPs, including Parish Plans, Market Town Healthchecks and urban examples of CLP had been produced since 2000
The South East region had the greatest coverage of CLPs. Approximately 47% of wards and parishes had produced a CLP with the support of RCAN members

Usage of the ACRE Parish and Community Planning Toolkit

The majority of RCAN members reported that they frequently used the ACRE Community Led Planning Toolkit to support communities through the process of producing a CLP.
In addition, many RCAN members had developed their own local resources for CLP.

Local Authority support for Community Led Planning

Members of RCAN work with over 279 local authorities across England.
70% of local authorities were perceived to be supportive of CLP.
50% of respondents suggested that local authorities provided some sort of funding for CLP
Only 27% of local authorities were thought to use the evidence generated by CLP to inform frameworks of local strategic planning.

CLP is supported by members of RCAN in all regions of England.

Recent evidence provided by Rural Action East (RAE), the representative RCAN body for the East of England provides a flavour of CLP activity that can be found at a regional level.

According to PlanIT, a database maintained by RAE, it was recently found that over 231 communities had produced Community Led Plans that contained over 9,000 individual actions to improve their locality. Forty-seven per cent of these actions were able to be taken on by the community itself without any external support. Of the remainder, 34 per cent required negotiation with public service providers to bring them to fruition.

A separate case study report looked at the impact that 12 CLPs from across the East of England had on communities and local authorities. The report argued that CLP was often stronger in areas where:

Steering groups were well informed about local government
Consultation techniques were adapted to the specific needs of groups and individuals within communities
Parish and Town Councils were supportive of the process
Independent facilitation was provided by Rural Community Councils
Well structured implementation plans detailed how community groups will progress the actions they propose for their local area
Early and frequent dialogue between CLP groups and local authorities had been established
Local authorities that had put mechanisms in place for responding to the actions proposed by CLP groups requiring their support
Information and guidance was available to communities, explaining how the CLP actions fed into local authority strategies and policies

In Braintree District, Essex 15 CLPs completed between April 2002 and March 2007 were evaluated in a report produced by the Rural Community Council of Essex. It found that across these plans:

The total population covered by all relevant neighbourhood/parishes was 49,729 people.
The average number of hours devoted to plan development (per head of population in the relevant neighbourhoods/parishes) was 1.4 hours.
The action plans resulting from the Parish Plan process contained 413 action points of which 204 have been completed, 59 removed, 44 are still to be commenced, 34 are ongoing and 72 are in progress at the time of this research.
The actions are being taken forward and making real differences to the lives of residents. One community levered in over £70,000 of funding and another over £58,000 to support locally delivered actions
The most successful plans were those where the Parish Council supported the production of the CLP and used the final action plan as part of its own work plan.

Of particular interest was the number of actions proposed for the area which could be undertaken by the community themselves (see table below)

Table showing the types of actions listed in 15 Community Led Plans in Braintree District, Essex between 2002 to 2007

Who was designated to deliver the actions	Getting Around	Things To Do	Feeling Safe and Well	Being Part of the Community	Taking Pride in where we Live	Access to services and Opportunities	Caring for the Environment
Community on their own	16	31	16	53	37	14	12
Community with some support	6	2	14	10	12	6	3
Community in partnership with service providers	48	2	39	7	17	15	13
Inclusion in wider Strategic Plans	10	0	1	1	3	10	15
Total	80	35	70	71	69	45	43

The full report of Community Led Plans completed in Braintree District, Essex can be downloaded here

In Oxford City the county and city councils developed a joint Community Led Planning project as part of an improvement partnership initiative funded by government to improve services across boundaries and tiers.

Techniques within the rural 9-step Community Led Planning process were adapted for use in three contrasting neighbourhood areas in Oxford City. An evolutionary, “snow-balling” approach to generating participation resulted, partly because of the project’s short time scale and the need to fit into an already established set of activities and groups, some led by public agencies. However, a key achievement has been to bring together local steering groups that include activists and representatives from a wide range of other local organisations and groups.

Outcomes included a greater sense of community in each area, better dialogue between community groups and local services and information which the local authorities could use to respond to specific community needs.

Evidence of local priorities and possible solutions is also now feeding into service delivery and area action planning, linked to strategic planning in the city as a whole.

For more information, please contact:

Angela Cristofoli, Oxford City Council (acristofoli@oxford.gov.uk)
Kathrin Luddecke, Oxfordshire County Council (kathrin.luddecke@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

A number of detailed case studies have been produced that show how CLPs are produced, the achievements that can be expected and the ways that communities and local government can work together.

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire
A questionnaire was hand delivered to 587 households in October with a resulting return rate of 73%.
The community set up an environmental group to see how the local area could become more energy efficient. They used a thermal imaging camera provided by the South Oxfordshire District Council to identify heat loss in housing and community buildings.

Easton in Gordano, Avon
1,311 questionnaires were completed and returned representing 60% of all households
The local MP has taken a direct interest in issues coming out of the Parish Plan.

Grampound, Cornwall
Provision of a playschool and adult education classes
The plan has been used to influence planning an policy decisions and significant progress has been made in improving working relationships an cooperation with local authorities.

Harrietsham, Kent
The first Youth Parish Council in Kent was established. This group proved to be key in engaging with other young people and encouraging their participation in wider community activities.
A community user group has been set up which meets regularly with health providers at the Doctors surgery to promote discussion on health issues.

Headley, Surrey
An affordable housing needs survey was undertaken. 78% of respondents were in favour of a 2nd phase of development that would see new homes built for local residents.
For the first time in 30 years seats on the Parish Council were contested and several new parish councillors were elected.

Helions Bumpstead, Essex
The group had a 91% response rate to the original consultation in 2002 and 81% to the refresh questionnaire in 200.

Holbeach, Lincolnshire
The plan resulted in the delivery of bespoke conversational English classes for migrant workers.

Kempston, Bedfordshire
[Kempston Neighbourhood Plan] was a pilot project with the aim of transferring the skills used to engage communities in rural areas to an urban setting.

Little Hadham, Hertfordshire
The plan highlighted the need for affordable housing and things for young people to do, which fed into the Sustainable Community Strategy and the Children and Young People Service Plan.

Lower Winterbourne, Dorset
The Parish Council continues to liaise with Dorset County Council, regarding speed control and enforcement. More research is taking place to justify additional Footpath and Cycle Tracks.
In total, an additional £113,900 was brought into the community for various projects as the result of producing the CLP.

South Cerney, Gloucestershire
The CLP has provided community members with a chance to overcome the problems of flooding in their local area. The plan was used as evidence for improvements to drainage and led to the creation of a community Flood Emergency Action Plan.

Stratfield Mortimer, West Berkshire
The Plan identified the need for a bus route between the station and the village. A Transport Grant from the Countryside Agency funded an improved service and, given the popularity of service, West Berkshire Council agreed to part fund the service once the grant expired. The Plan provided the evidence of community need used to lobby the Council for the service.

Many local authorities across England already work with third sector development agencies to adopt Community Led Planning as their strategy for ensuring meaningful community involvement. The research prepared by communities on local needs and priorities has helped local authorities to rationalise service delivery and produce better informed strategic plans such as Sustainable Community Strategies and Local Area Agreements. This has worked best where Community Led Planning has been mainstreamed within the institutional fabric of the local authority, supporting continuity of engagement and sustained local action.

Local authorities in West Berkshire, Cheshire and Essex provide different examples of how Community Led Planning can be mainstreamed to promote meaningful community involvement.

Cheshire: coordination at a county level
Cheshire’s county and district councils adopt a coordinated and sustained approach to encourage Community Led Plans to feed into service delivery and strategic planning across the county. Representatives from the local authorities, Cheshire Community Action and Cheshire Association of Local Councils form the ‘Rural Community and Parish Planning Group’ which regularly monitors the progress of approximately 80 Community Led Plans. The group determines the level of funding to be provided to local Community Led Planning groups, and decides where local authority action is required to support specific community projects. It also acts as the focus for ensuring how the evidence of local needs is reflected in the Local Area Agreement and Sustainable Community Strategies. As a result of the group’s work, approximately £80,000 has already been invested by the County in developing new plans and implementing projects identified in Community Led Plans over the past 3 years.

West Berkshire: sharing the workload
West Berkshire Council has gained Beacon status in recognition for its pioneering work in community engagement through Community Led Planning (see http://www.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4143). By January 2007, around two-thirds of parishes in West Berkshire were engaged in, or had completed a Community Led Plan. The evidence generated by Community Led Planning groups has fed directly into the Sustainable Community Strategy. Success has depended on a number of factors. Firstly, West Berkshire Council worked closely with Community Action West Berkshire to provide dedicated support to community groups undertaking their plans. Through the use of outreach work, Community Led Planning surgeries and a system of endorsement, communities have been supported to produce high quality plans that are inclusive and well researched. Secondly, the use of an internal database that assigns specific projects from Community Led Plans to appropriate officers has helped to significantly share the workload across departments.

Essex: prioritising community needs
Essex County Council has worked in partnership with Essex Rural Community Council to mainstream Community Led Planning in local communities. In 2008, ‘Making the links ~ Making it happen’ was launched, solidifying a programme of support to Community Led Planning groups in the county. This acknowledges the needs identified by communities and commits to funding 80% of the cost towards top priority projects identified in Community Led Plans.