Support for Community Led Planning
Carrying out a Community Led Plan is fun and rewarding for a community. It can also be hard work…but help is at hand!
How can we support you?
The Community Council of Devon (CCD) employs dedicated Community Development Workers who can provide impartial, practical support to groups undertaking a Community Led Plan. We have a wealth of experience we can share with you and know all the tricks to help you make your plan a success. See our resources page for a selection of toolkits and guidance sheets to assist you.
CCD should be your first port of call when thinking about undertaking a Community Led Plan.
How to contact the Community Planning Team:
Greg Davies, Senior Projects Officer E: greg@devonrcc.org.uk T: 01392 382832
Martin Rich Community Projects Officer E: martin@devonrcc.org.uk T: 01392 383681
Agnieszka Szpinda Community Project Officer E: agnieszka@devonrcc.org.uk T:01392 383292
Address: School Huts, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QB
Parish and Town Councils
Parish and Town Councils are statutory bodies - an elected tier of local government with a democratic mandate to represent and act on behalf of their residents.
They can help support a Community Led Plan by:
• Raising the profile of your Community Led Plan with other, larger Local Authorities and service providers to make sure that it is taken seriously
• Implementing some of the actions you may propose
• Use your Community Led Plan to guide their future work in the Community
Your Parish or Town Council should be seen as an ally in the production of your Community Led Plan. Experience shows that the most productive plans are those that have been undertaken with their full support and backing throughout the process. You should seek to have a representative from your council on the Steering Committee.
Local Authorities
The majority of your community’s services are managed by Local Authorities. Recent legislation has stressed the need for Local Authorities to actively listen to the communities they serve, to understand how policies and services can be best tailored to local needs. As of April 2009, Local Authorities have a duty to provide you with information about what they already do, consult you when important decisions need to be made an involve you in the development of policies and strategies in your area.
Many Local Authorities have already adopted Community Led Planning as their strategy for ensuring the meaningful involvement of communities. In some cases, your Local Authority will provide you with a protocol or quality standards which explain how they will support, respond and use your Community Led Plan.
Your Local Authority can support a Community Led Plan by:
• Providing information about the strategies, policies and programmes which affect your community.
• Signpost you to pre-existing evidence about your community, such as census statistics, results of previous surveys etc
• Offer funding to support the production of your plan
• Provide you with support and guidance about the actions that your community is considering about how these can be best implemented.
• Endorse the actions contained with your Plan and integrate these into the relevant policies and strategies that concern your community.
• Support you to implement some of the actions contained within your plan.
It is important that your Community Led Plan links in with strategic plans used by Local Authorities to make sure that the actions proposed are taken seriously and provided with the support necessary to make them happen.
You can find a link to your Local Authority on CCD’s Links page.
