Involving rural residents in community planning
The Theme
Community planning processes, whereby policies are shaped according to local priorities and visions created by local partnerships from public, voluntary, and business sectors, have or are being introduced in various forms throughout the UK. The vitality and effectiveness of these new local partnerships and strategies will inevitably vary from one area to another, depending on the quality and application of energy, resources and commitment. A key issue is the degree to which they successfully engage local residents in the community planning process.
Carnegie has worked with eleven partners from across the UK and Ireland to look into the issue of 'bridging' links. The partners have demonstarted the real achievements which can be made through the community-led planning process. They have also advanced geniune community engagement in ways which can be adopted by changing structures of governance and fresh approaches. However, the work has also made clear that there is a need for local government- and other agencies of governance- to 'up their game' if community engagement is to process beyond sporadic success to a more mainstreamed outcome.
Lead consultant, Trevor Cherrett has written a short briefing which summarises this work and the full reports from each piece of work can be viewed by clicking the links on the right.