Sustainable Community Strategy
What is a Community Strategy?
Under the Local Government Act 2000, local authorities have a
duty to prepare, with their partners, a community strategy.
A Community Strategy is, as the name implies, a plan focussing
on the needs and issues of local communities to improve the
economic, social and environmental wellbeing of an area and improve
the quality of life for everyone.
There are four main parts:
- A long-term vision (typically 10 – 20 years) focussing on
achievable results (the difference the strategy will make).
- An action plan identifying short-term priorities and
activities.
- A shared commitment between local partners to put the action
plan into practice.
- Arrangements to monitor whether the plan is delivering.
As the Community Strategy represents a shared vision,
it should involve local people and organisations as much as
possible, this is usually through a local strategic partnership.
The plan should also ensure the economic, social and
environmental concerns are tackled in a balanced and sustainable
way.
Community strategies can:
- Be powerful for engaging local communities to discuss their
needs and ideas
- Provide direction for joining the work of local partners
- Provide the potential to secure greater efficiency and
effectiveness in the use of public, private and voluntary
resources
- Provide an opportunity to share and learn from everyone's
experiences
The big issues for the District cannot be solved by any one
agency; therefore partnership working is the most important element
of the Community Strategy. In short, a community strategy is
a practical tool for 'joining things' locally and tackling issues
together.
An East Kent Local Strategic Partnership (East Kent
LSP) was established in April 2008, covering the Districts of
Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet.
Within its remit the EKLSP has the responsibility for developing
a Sustainable Community Strategy for the area, identifying common
issues and priorities and clearly supporting the Vision for
Kent (Kent County Council’s Sustainable Community
Strategy).
East Kent Sustainable Community Strategy: Lighting the Way
to Success
The East
Kent Sustainable Community Strategy (East Kent SCS) is
now available on the East Kent LSP website. You can also
view the Experian report which was used to inform the
development of the East Kent SCS.
Community consultation is pivotal to its success and
we undertook wide consultation to give local people, groups
and organisations a say in telling us what they thought about
some of the biggest issues facing the area. The final strategy has
been revised in light of the consultation responses received -
thank you for taking the time to respond.
Six themes have been identified in the East Kent Sustainable
Community Strategy. These are:
1. Education:
Educational excellence that supports ambition, achievement and
skills, for the workplace and beyond.
2. Economic:
Economic enterprise that is confident, resilient and with the
support of local higher and further education
institutions, innovative enough to seize opportunities presented
new markets and emerging technology.
3. Communities:
Fairer, stronger and healthier communities in resurgent coastal
towns, enjoying high quality homes and an enviable quality of
life.
4. Transport:
A high quality integrated transport network, with reduced
congestion and pollution, offering a wide choice of accessible
transport for all sections of the community.
5. Visitor destination:
A distinctive profile as a visitor destination, with a wealth of
cultural treasures, sustaining a thriving tourist economy.
6. Environment:
The priceless assets of its unique natural environment and a
commitment to protect it for future generations.
The partnership is now developing the action plans
to support the delivery of the SCS and
these should be published towards the end of the
year.
Engaging and involving local people is an on-going process. If
you would like to be involved in helping to develop these action
plans, please contact the East Kent Local Strategic
Partnership.
Government guidance on sustainable community strategies
states:
"The purpose of a sustainable community strategy is to set the
overall strategic direction and long-term vision for the economic,
social and environmental wellbeing of a local area - typically
10-20 years - in a way that contributes to sustainable development
in the UK. It tells the 'story of place' - the distinctive
vision and ambition of the area, backed by clear evidence and
analysis."
The East Kent Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS)
is therefore a fundamentally important document setting out a
clear, long-term vision for the future of East Kent over the next
twenty years, outlining the steps needed to be taken in order to
make the vision a reality.
At a county level, there is a Local Area Agreement between Kent
County Council and central Government. The Kent Agreement 2 sets
targets for the whole of Kent and is linked to the issues and
priorities laid out in the Vision for Kent (Kent County Council’s
Sustainable Community Strategy).
Contact details for the East Kent Local Strategic
Partnership
Contact
E-mail: policy@dover.gov.uk
