Making the links

The secret to a successful Community Led Plan is making links with the people, organisations, policies and strategies that can help you along the way.

Why is ‘linking’ important?

Although many communities can implement a number of actions themselves to improve their local area; every community is intricately connected to the surrounding world, and everything is constantly changing.  People move in and out of communities, businesses and jobs come and go and even the environment changes at a rate where we begin to notice the changes to the weather and wildlife that surround us.

There are many changes that communities are unable to make without support and commitment from others.  For example, no one could expect a community to set up its own hospital. However, what is more plausible is for a community to evidence it’s need for better access to medical facilities, and policy makers to take note when planning the provision of health care across the region.

In order to get the support needed to tackle ‘bigger’ issues, your community will need to tap into, and make links with the policies and strategies that shape your locality.  In order to do this, your community needs basic understanding of what these are and the opportunities for getting involved in order to make change happen.

Don’t worry! Although this may seem like a daunting task, help is at hand.  Your Local Authority and CCD have staff in place to help guide you through the process, to help you get the most out of your community plan.

What policies and strategies do you need to be aware of?

Sustainable Community Strategies

Sustainable Community Strategies are important because they provide one of the best routes into channels of formal decision making for your community. These Strategies set out the long-term vision for your area.  Local Authorities use these to prioritise key aims and objectives which are necessary for improving the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of a locality, in a way that contributes to sustainable development.  All other strategies and plans for an area must take into account the Sustainable Community Strategy.

Sustainable Community Strategies must be based on clear evidence and analysis and this should include consultation with communities.  A Community Led Plan could provide this evidence.

Local Area Agreements

You should be aware of Local Area Agreements because they set out three year spending plans for service delivery in your area and could therefore help resource some of the actions in your action plan.  They are agreements between all public sector agencies working in your area and should reflect the longer-term Sustainable Community Strategy.

There is no direct route for communities to influence what priorities are set in Local Area Agreements although it is hoped that the combined data from Community Led Plans across an area will be taken into account.  However, you should try and match up your actions to those priorities in the Local Area Agreement for your area.

Local Development Frameworks

Local Development Frameworks are important for your Community Led Plan as they set out the overall direction of spatial planning policy in your area i.e. major building developments.

There are many documents contained in the Local Development Framework such as:

• Development Plan Documents – overall strategy and key development goals
• Supplementary Planning Documents – expand or add details to policies already established in Development Plan Documents – some authorities adopt Community Led Plans as Supplementary Planning Documents.
• Local Development Scheme – is a timetable that points out when planning decisions are to be made.
• Statement of Community Involvement – shows when and how planning authorities intend to consult local communities when preparing planning documents.

You should contact your local planning authority at the earliest opportunity when producing your Community Led Plan.  They will able to explain what policies exist in your area, the opportunities you have to influence them and the viability of taking forward new proposals that you community would like to follow up.

Comprehensive Area Assessments

You should be aware of Comprehensive Area Assessments as they are how the government measures the performance of local authorities and their partners to deliver the priorities set in your area.  They emphasise on how well local authorities and their partners work with local communities to understand and respond to local needs and aspirations.  They should, in theory, make sure that you are getting to best possible opportunities to make links with the strategies outlined above.