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Supporting your community

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Supporting your community through community-led plans can help communities ask their local people what they want, and produce a plan to make it happen. It brings people together to find out what skills and strengths they already have and what else they need to deliver their ideas. Community-led plans help create and action small and practical steps to create the changes they want to see in their community.

Community-led plans

Community-led plans are guided and supported by the people who live in the area and worked on by groups of volunteers, such as parish councillors and local people. They use things like surveys, meetings, discussions, and events to involve everyone in the community, which leads to a well-thought-out plan based on detailed consultations.

The plan shows how the community can solve its problems, both by themselves and by working with local authorities or other groups and it covers anything important to the community.

In some places, people might also consider Neighbourhood Planning, which focuses on where buildings should be and how they should look and how to protect open spaces.

The average cost of a community-led plan is around £3000, with support available in the form of grants up to £2000, from our Community Chest.

Community- led plans do not require a referendum.

Cambridgeshire ACRE and Greater Cambridge Shared Planning can provide support and advice on Neighbourhood Planning and other options available to communities.

Neighborhood-led plans

Neighbourhood plans focus on preparing a planning document for the district and guides planning applications, they are governed by national regulations involving formal consultations, examinations, and a referendum process. They are prepared by the parish council with a steering group contributing to the writing and they generate a ‘Neighbourhood Development Plan’ alongside the Local Plan having statutory weight.

The average cost of a neighbourhood plan is around £13,000, with support available in the form of grants up to £10,000 and extra funds if additional criteria is met. 

Key principles of a community-led plan

There are 3 key principles that define a community-led plan, setting it apart from other community engagement methods. These are as follows:

Community ownership and leadership

The plan is driven by the community itself, taking charge of its agenda and creating positive change without waiting for external action. It requires active involvement and leadership from community members who will own and execute the plan, whilst working with local parish or town councils.

Inclusive participation

Every community member should have a chance to contribute and voice their opinions during the plan's development, and involvement from diverse groups ensures a comprehensive plan supported by the entire community. The community will need to attract interest in making the plan, recruit volunteers to get things done, use a mix of different methods to speak to everyone locally and come to a collective decision.

Evidence-based action addressing community needs

Plans should include a wide range of local concerns, including social, economic, environmental, and cultural aspects and it should provide a structured approach for communities to research, identify important issues, and create a detailed plan for specific improvements.

The process of a community-led plan

The process for creating a community-led plan toolkit was formulated by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) in collaboration with the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN) members.

The important points in developing a community-led plan are launch, evidence, agree and deliver.

To launch your community-led plan you need to:

  • contact your local parish or town council
  • attract interest in the community for creating the plan
  • recruit volunteers who can help out in different ways
  • launch the plan publicly to inform and engage people
  • form a steering group representing the community's diversity to oversee the plan – it’s a good idea to get a written constitution to tell people what it does, reduce the risk of misunderstandings and make it easier to apply for funding
  • create a working group separate from the steering group to focus on specific plan elements. The working group doesn’t need a written constitution but can writeterms of reference which tells people what the group does and how they will do it
  • ensure there is enough resources, volunteers, and support to sustain the plan
  • produce a Project Plan which sets out the work that needs to be done over the coming months to finalise the plan. It can help you to think through what needs to be done when, and by who. The Project Plan can be done however you would like, but to make it easier we have provided an example template [XLSX, 18Kb] for you to download
  • email CLP@scambs.gov.uk for further help on anything in this section

To get evidence to support your community-led plan you need to:

  • gather local data using sources like Cambridgeshire Insight
  • consult with your community as they will know the local area best. You can do this through surveys, interviews, or other suitable methods for the people you want to involve
  • identify important aspects for your community’s wellbeing and sustainability – think about what makes your community a good place for people to live, prosper, and be happy, both now and in the future. We have developed a bank of questions you might want to use, please contact us at CLP@scambs.gov.ukif you would like to receive this.
  • a sustainable community needs to have the right balance of economy, social interaction and environmental concerns.

The links below give some aspects you may wish to include in your consultation process.

Social:

Environment:

Economic:

To agree your community-led plan you need to:

  • analyse collected data, categorising it to understand common themes and issues
  • present the data to the community for feedback and prioritisation - find out:
    • are people in general agreement with the evidence presented?
    • is there anything missing?
    • are there any themes or issues that you think are the most important?
  • develop a draft plan outlining community uniqueness, values, and proposed actions for the future. It should inclide an action plan which tells readers how specific issues will be addressed, by whom, with what resources and by when. We can provide examples of final plans if you need them.

To deliver your community-led plan you need to:

  • gather final feedback from the community
  • produce a comprehensive Final Plan that aligns with community needs and expectations
  • launch the plan in a way that gains maximum support and attention
  • put the plan into action – slowly achieve proposed actions based on your plan and its timeline
  • Maintain regular communication with the community, media, and volunteers to keep momentum
  • the Action Plan can be done however you would like, but to make it easier we have provided an example template [XLSX, 22Kb]
  • monitor progress, celebrating achievements and ensure continuation of the plan
  • revisit and update the plan every few years to match evolving community needs

Support we can provide

We can provide advice and guidance for a Community-Led Plan in South Cambridgeshire, based on national and local best practice.

When you launch the project

  • details of important contacts and other organisations/community groups
  • advice on setting up a Community Group
  • help with recruiting volunteers
  • help in bringing together community groups within your village
  • guidance sheets and templates/examples
  • helping to launch your plan at a public event
  • advice on how to set up an appropriate leadership structure
  • guidance on the selection and use of different consultation techniques
  • putting you in contact with other groups with Community-Led Plans
  • getting in contact with Council officers and other professionals who may be able to help with specific actions
  • Community engagement toolkit
  • Community action case studies
  • support to access grant funding including up to £2000 from South Cambridgeshire District Council's Community Chest Grant Fund.

Evidence and agreeing your Plan

  • help in finding evidence for your Plan
  • questionnaire guide/template 
  • comments on your consultation process and draft questionnaire
  • comments on your draft Plan.

Delivering your Plan

We will also provide:

  • advice throughout the Community-Led Plan process by phone and email
  • visits to your group to answer questions and lead workshops
  • ongoing help with the specific actions where agreed, particularly where the community needs the support of external organisations, or has chosen to work with other Community-Led Plan groups to get things done
  • help with revisiting and refreshing old Community-Led Plans
  • helping with checking progress
  • reminders for when and advice about how to review your Plan.

What we would like from you, if you're willing to share:

  • a named contact for your Community-Led Plan
  • updates from your meetings
  • a copy of your project plan and budget
  • if you’re not linked to your Parish Council - make contact with them and other agencies
  • a copy of your draft Action Plan
  • a copy of your finished Plan.
  • feedback about the Action Plan, including successes and challenges.

Recently completed community-led plans