Engaging with the community

From Camlink

The following guidance on engaging with the community is extracted from the Good Councillor's Guide, published by the Countryside Agency.

Tools for community consultation

As a councillor, you have a responsibility to be well-informed, especially about diverse local views. You cannot assume that you represent the interests of all your electors without consulting them. The tried and tested tools noted below are just some ways in which people can express their hopes and wishes for the community. They provide valuable opportunities for local people to identify features of the parish that need improving or are worth protecting. They stimulate discussion; they inform the decision makers and usually lead to action.

• Surveys and questionnaires give residents, including young people, an opportunity to express their views about where they live. The response rate from households can be impressive - usually over 50% - and in smaller communities, with personal delivery and collection, it can reach 90%.

• Design Statements involve communities in a review of the built and natural environment of their area. The published results can be used by your principal authority to help make planning decisions (see Part Four).

• A Parish Map can be a creative exercise; for example, it might be a painting, tapestry or model of the parish. People identify local features that matter as they work on the map.

• Planning for Real® is a consultation exercise, championed by the Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation. People create a simple model of the parish (or part of it) and use it to generate discussion and set priorities.

• Community conferences or workshops provide more opportunities for bringing people together to talk about the future of the parish.

• Parish plans are led by the parish council; they draw in community groups and residents of villages, to produce an action plan for improving the quality of life and the environment. The parish plan can be based on the findings of a variety of consultation exercises; local people from all parts of the community should have their say. Grant funding for parish plans is available from the Rural Social and Community Programme through Rural Community Councils.

• Market town health checks and town plans are used in towns and are similar to parish plans. They often have a greater emphasis on the local economy.

In addition to helping your council identify real improvements,the process of using tools like these can strengthen people’s sense of purpose and belonging. The process is as important as the product. You should, of course, use the knowledge you have already have as a basis for decisions on behalf of your community, but these tools help you to become even better informed and give a stronger mandate for action. The results of community consultation help you to:

• speak on behalf of your community with greater confidence especially in discussions with principal authorities;

• provide services and facilities, especially where there is no other provider or the parish council can secure better value for money;

• support community action and services provided by others; the council can offer buildings, staff expertise and funding to get local projects off the ground;

• work in partnership with community groups, voluntary organisations and other local authorities, including neighbouring parish councils, to benefit the community. For many people, it is the satisfaction of acting on behalf of their local community that encourages them to become councillors.

Next page: Support for Parish Clerks and Councillors.