Suffolk ACRE

With the government impetus to promote active citizenship now is an opportune time for parishes to consult their community in order to identify their needs for the future. Service Providers (Highways, Police, Primary Care Trusts etc) are being encouraged to seek 'grassroots' views so that they can deliver a better service to meet those needs. The Planning System is also in the midst of great change and could have a profound effect on the development of parishes.

By carrying out an all inclusive consultation the ideas, needs and concerns of the community can be identified and an action plan produced to address them. Some action points can be dealt with by the community such as setting up new community groups or seeking funding to improve facilities but other action may require partnership working with other Service Providers to tackle these issues.

Over the past few years Parish/Town Consultations have come in many guises; Village Appraisals, Community Action Plans, Parish Plans or Market Town Health Checks but basically they all consult the community and have an action plan drawn up to address the issues identified. 

Over the past 12-18 months we have been able to develop our own consultation software which enables the whole parish plan process to be able to be completed securely online, from the building of the questionnaire, to the data entry, to the analysis. For more information on the software and whether you think it would be useful for your own parish please click here. The software has been used with over 40 parishes and has been widely accepted by all parishes.

 

Links

 

http://vitalvillages.rocktimeweb.net/ - Examples of completed Parish Plans

http://www.getpreparednow.co.uk  - Overview of Community Resilience initiative from Parish Councils and other Community Groups in Suffolk

http://www.suffolkresilience.com - Public versions of Community Resilience initiative from Parish Councils and other Community Groups in Suffolk

For some useful guides on Community Led Planning please download the files below. These papers have been produced by Rural Action East for the Regional Empowerment Partnership for the East of England

Community Led Planning Guide - Officer

Community Led Planning Guide - Councillor

If your parish is thinking of embarking upon a parish/town consultation contact our parish plans team, for further information on 01473 345300 or e-mail: parish.plans@suffolkacre.org.uk