Community Planning Update August 2015

Community Planning Update August 2015 by Tessa Hall, Community Development Worker

My work as Parish Plan Development worker, as supported by West Berkshire Council, has now come to an end.  They were very pleased with the work that CCB carried out in supporting communities with their Plans over the last 12 plus years, but have had to refocus resources to areas of greater need. If you are currently working on a new or refreshed Plan in West Berkshire, please contact Jo Naylor at West Berkshire Council. Her phone number is: 01635 503019 and email: jnaylor@westberks.gov.uk

Andy Day, Head of Strategic Support at West Berkshire Council commented in a recent letter; “I would like to thank CCB for your efforts in helping West Berkshire Council deliver its nationally recognised parish planning programme. We are grateful for the work CCB has done to support communities and assist them in the development of Community Led Plans. Your efforts to engage communities and understand the challenges of advising groups and brokering those relationships, especially in view of the often challenging group dynamics, have been very much appreciated.”

The Future
In spite of the withdrawal of funding by West Berkshire Council, the team at CCB remain committed to continuing to support communities across Berkshire with any community consultation or community-focused projects you might be working on, now and in the future. If you think we can help, please do get in touch. We may have to get creative in finding resources to provide this support, and there are some excellent examples of Rural Community Councils in other parts of the country helping with funding bids that provide the money to pay for the support required. 

Training
We do still receive funding from West Berkshire Council for the provision of informal adult learning, and will be delivering a training programme during the next academic year. We want to ensure that the training topics we chose meet your community needs. Please get in touch with me at Tessa.Hall@ccberks.org.uk or on 0118 9612000 and let me know what training you need to help you produce your plans, carry out community consultations and improve your community. In many cases, this training can be provided free of charge. Previous topics have included how to produce a questionnaire; how to find and keep volunteers; different ways to consult and training on the use of social media for community groups.