What people say about Community Led Planning
Here are some of the things that people say about Community Led Planning…
Government:
“A better model of democracy to the doorstep is hard to imagine”
Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Local Government:
“An exceptional way to integrate local communities’ requirements and aspirations into our Community Strategy and Action Plans whilst balancing the development needs of our District. It is a remarkable community empowerment and leadership tool. It enables communities to take control of their future by shaping its development both in terms of spatial and societal needs”
North Kesteven District Council, Lincolnshire
“Community led plans are absolutely fundamental because what they do is give us the grassroots information that we need which can feed through to the Community Strategies, outlining the needs of all the diverse communities throughout Shropshire”
Paul Shevlin, Oswestry Borough Council
“Unless we’re actually listening to communities’ concerns and issues and reacting to it appropriately, we’re not going to achieve our mission.”
Clare Greener, Rural Policy Manager, Shropshire County Council
Parish and Town Councils:
“It is absolutely essential to involve the whole community from the beginning and outline the structure and process in its entirety from the earliest stage possible.”
Val Watts, BerkeleyTown Mayor, Gloucestershire “
It has raised the professionalism of the council by providing a policy and engaged a wide section of the community in a worthwhile and productive project that directly affects their everyday wellbeing”
Gill Claydon, Clerk to Stokenham Parish Council, Devon
“It is important to remember that villages are not buildings, they are people.”
Mike Stuart, South Cerney Parish Council, Gloucestershire
Communities themselves:
“This is not just a paper exercise; it’s about enabling people to take control of their lives, and say what they want for their community. Ours has gained so much from this process, which has highlighted everything we value most about the place we call home”
Sally Dugan, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Parish Plan Steering Group, Oxfordshire
“Doing the plan has lead to the development of a walking school bus, a flooding survey and the refurbishment of the community hall”
Christopher Notley, Harlaxton Steering Group, Lincolnshire
“If people act in isolation, you actually get nowhere but if you come together as we have, you can talk as a group of people to the local authorities”
Royston Hind, Pangbourne Parish Plan, West Berkshire
“We were totally involved [in the Parish Plan] the whole way through. We wrote our own campaign. The adults were there to help us through it, but we did everything ourselves”
Russell Korting, Kennet Valley Youth Group
“We had immediate interest from the community”
Roy Tonge, Hadnell Parish Plan, Shropshire
“We brought new people in, people who weren’t Parish Councillors, who weren’t particularly involved in anything in the village. Out of that we brought in some fantastic skills”
Sue Frankfurt, Adderley Parish, Shropshire
“For the first time in 30 years seats on the Parish Council were contested and several new Parish Councillors have been elected” Community led plan case study from Headley Surrey
“The Plan has been endorsed by Maidstone Borough Council and Harrietsham Parish Council use the plan to inform and direct their activities. The action plan is a living document with progress regularly reviewed by the Parish Council” Community led plan case study Harrietsham, Kent
“Having tangible results from the Plan raised confidence in Ripley residents that change could happen and empowered them to undertake further action” Community led plan case study Ripley, Surrey
“Be realistic when creating your action plan. If other residents are able to see actions being delivered and completed it will be a motivating factor in getting others involved”
Community led plan case study South Cerney, Gloucestershire
“Although time consuming and complicated to carry out properly, the process was extremely rewarding and gave a much better insight into how the community functions than was ever available previously’ Evaluation of community led plans in Braintree District, Essex |
