Community Planning
Shaping Our Furture: The Sustainable Community Strategy for Dorset
2007 - 2016
North Dorset exercises its duty to produce a district-wide community strategy through
the Dorset Community Strategy. This strategy is being revised by Dorset Strategic Partnership. Responses
from a public consultation held between December 2006 and March 2007 are currently being analysed to
finalise the revised Strategy by June 2007. Copies of the draft strategy can be found here.
Local Government White Paper
Ruth Kelly has now published Strong and prosperous communities - The
Local Government White Paper. You can access a free copy of the paper from the hyperlink below.
Publication title: Strong and Prosperous Communities
- The Local Government White Paper
Community Planning in North Dorset
Community planning provides an opportunity for local communities to play a part
in planning for future changes in their area to help improve the quality of life for residents and businesses.
Community planning is about joining up the efforts of public, business, voluntary
and community organisations and making sure they are working with residents to tackle local issues and
problems.
In North Dorset this is being done through community partnerships and parish plan
groups.
You can also find out about the Dorset Strategic Partnership,
which looks at issues affecting the whole of Dorset, by using the link on the right.
How can I get involved?
If you are interested in getting involved and you live in a market town, or look
to a market town for most of your shopping, work and leisure needs, please make contact with the community
partnership closest to you, using the links below.
If you want to play a part in preparing a plan for your parish, please make contact
with your local parish council, using the link on the right, or contact the Rural Economy team and they
will be able to help.
Community Partnerships
Community partnerships are the grass roots of community planning and include town/parish
councils, voluntary organisations, community groups, businesses and residents. There are
four active area-based partnerships.
Market and Coastal Towns Initiative
Blandford Forum is one of thirteen towns from across the south west region formally
accepted into the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative. Like the other towns Blandford will receive up
to £20,000 in grant, dedicated Community Facilitator support from the Market and Coastal Towns Association
(MCTA), professional assistance from consultants and templates and toolkits to aid their progress.
MCTA will assist DT11 Forum, including the Blandford Forum Town Council and the surrounding Parishes
to
- refine the current draft community action plan to better address the needs
of the people living and working in Blandofrd Forum and the surrounding area.
- develop
their skills and organisational capacity to be effective partners
- share good practice
and learn from other local strategic partnerships across the south west and the country as a whole;
&
- work together to secure funding and professional assistance to effect the
actions from the plan
This Action Plan was produced
by the DT11 Forum, the community partnership for Blandford Forum and the surrounding area. The purpose
of the Action Plan is to express a vision of the area as the community would like it to be and to identify
key actions deemed necessary to develop that vision. You can download a copy of the draft Action Plan
here.
Jo Rose is now the Community Development Manager for the DT11 Forum.
She can be contacted as follows; post: Jo Rose, c/o Rural Economy, Nordon, Salisbury
Road, Blandford Forum, DT11 7LL; e-mail; jo_dt11@yahoo.co.uk.
Please call Regeneration at North Dorset District Council on (01258) 484005
or e-mail us for
more details. |