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Community Development

 

Does your town or village need a boost?  Could you do with some help to find out your community’s priorities, get local people more involved and secure support and funding for community projects?

Community Action Plans have already helped Ardfern, Tarbert, Ardrishaig and Coll to improve their communities in a number of ways including developing harbour facilities, sports clubs and community enterprise companies.   South Kintyre Development Trust recently received funding from LEADER and the BIG Lottery Fund to create plans for the five community council areas in south Kintyre in 2011/12 and other local communities are also interested in how community action plans could help them.

Community action plan processes follow a similar format:

  1. Start with a steering group
  2. Secure financial and other support
  3. Issue a community questionnaire asking people what their likes, dislikes and concerns are
  4. Interview stakeholders/decision-makers
  5. Hold a community event to raise the profile of the Community Action Plan
  6. Analyse feedback from the questionnaires and set community priorities
  7. Publish an action plan and identify the people responsible for each action

In Oban, Lorn and the Isles, Highlands and Islands Enterprise has supported plans to be developed in Coll, Tiree and the Ross of Mull. Oban Community Council has pulled together a steering group that is currently in the consultation stage of developing a Community Action Plan for the town.

Follow the links below to take a look at some completed community action plans:

www.lochlomond-trossachs.org

www.developmentcoll.co.uk  (pdf)

www.ardrishaig.org.uk  (pdf)

For more information, training and advice, email communitydevelopment@argyll-bute.gov.uk.

 

Are you a member of a community group or community council looking for ideas to engage local people in a project, survey or action plan?

Here are a few things to help:

Better Community Engagement Resource Pack

The Better Community Engagement Resource Pack is crammed full of ideas for engaging with people of all ages and abilities in fun and interactive ways.  You can access the pack through the link below, but please be aware the file is large and can take some time to download.

http://www.aloscotland.com/alo/viewresource.htm?id=348

You can also request a CD of the pack, or borrow a folder, by emailing the Community Development team at the email address below.

The Community Planning Partnership tent is 3m x 4.5m and can be used for partnership events.

Tent

VOXUR “Points of View” camera and computer is on loan to Argyll and Bute Council from Education Scotland and can be used for community consultations with assistance from a Council official.   Voxur is a great way to gather the views of your community on film.

Voxur

For more information email Communitydevelopment@argyll-bute.gov.uk

 

Each of the four administrative areas in Argyll and Bute has a Local Area Community Planning Group (LACPG).

Local Area Community Planning Groups are local partnerships and are made up of representatives from statutory, private and charity/voluntary sector partners and local communities.

There are four LACPGs representing the four administrative areas of Argyll and Bute: Oban, Lorn and the Isles; Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands; Helensburgh and Lomond; and Bute and Cowal.

 

 LACPG Diagram

 

The Local Area Community Planning Groups were set up to help service providers and community representatives to work together to identify and prioritise local service delivery. They are an important part of the local decision making process and are seen as the way forward in providing better, joined-up services which are responsive to what communities want.

LACPGs aim to:

  • develop and maintain Local Area Community Plans within the Community Plan outcomes
  • monitor and review achievement of local outcomes using agreed performance measures
  • support and encourage effective collaboration and coordination between community based organisations operating in the local area
  • provide opportunities for local communities to influence decision-making and strategy

Find out what your LACPG is doing in your area. 

Find out more information about community planning in Argyll and Bute.

For more information on how your voluntary or community group fits into community planning, follow this link to the Third Sector Partnership