Planning for the future
4th July 2022
As part of our Esmee Fairbairn funded work, ACT is encouraging communities and parishes to have a look at their plans for the future. This has always been a central part of our offer to work with communities.
With the changes of Local Government Reform happening around us many communities see the opportunity to clarify their vision for the future and set it out, along with an action plan to achieve it. Relationships with those who can help us - including local authority officers, politicians and agencies - can be critical.
Maybe you have a parish or community plan from some years ago which needs refreshing, or perhaps there are new challenges or opportunities for your community which provide a catalyst for working together. There are recurrent themes in planning for the future which often reflect concerns about how healthy and sustainable communities are.
Dating back to 2004, Sir John Egan’s 8 elements for a sustainable community are still relevant and can help structure and inform community conversation:
Services: Public, private and community and voluntary services that are accessible to all.
Environmental: Providing places for people to live in an environmentally friendly way.
Equity: Fair for everyone in our diverse world and for both today’s and tomorrow’s communities.
Economy: A thriving and vibrant local economy.
Housing & the Built Environment: High quality buildings.
Social & Cultural: Active, inclusive and safe with a strong local culture and other shared community activities.
Governance: Well-run communities with effective and inclusive participation, representation and leadership.
Transport & Connectivity: Well-connected communities with good transport services and communications linking people to jobs, health and other services.
Take a look at our online resources, designed to help communities plan for the future, and get in touch if this resonates as something which would be useful where you are.
We would like to take this opportunity to encourage you not to shy away from the issues which seem too large or too difficult. There are lots of things which appear to fall into this category and we are keen to help communities who feel that something is really not working in their interests, or that they are not being listened to, that they don’t give up. We may be able to help you look at something differently or connect better with those who can help you to bring about a better result.
If you would like to talk to us about any sort of community action planning it would be great to hear from you. We can support you. You may find that a different approach to a difficult conversation, such as using an arts-based technique or a more participatory approach, can move things forward in unexpected ways. Contact: franrichardson@cumbriaaction.org.uk