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Home – About Us – Forums – Project Groups – Community Plan – Plan Review – Contacts - Links |
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The Totnes & District Community Plan |
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WARNING |
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Contents |
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Foreword 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Background to the Plan 3.0 An Analysis of Totnes 4.0 Projects 5.0 Next Steps Appendices |
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Foreword, Acknowledgments and Introduction follow on this page. Click here for 2.0 Background to the Plan Click here for 3.0 An Analysis of Totnes, 4.0 Projects & 5.0 Next Steps |
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Foreword The publication of this Community Action Plan is the culmination of four years of conscientious work by local volunteers and our local government partners, who have given of their time and expertise to work for the benefit of the Totnes and District communities. They deserve our gratitude for their efforts to help point the direction we should take to conserve the character of our town and villages and make them a better place in which to live. This process began in 2001 in response to the Government’s Market and Coastal Towns Initiative (MCTi), which called for community involvement in a nationwide regeneration programme. Following a Community Participation Day, which also involved representatives of local government, police and local associations, the Totnes & District Community Strategy Group was established to investigate and develop the following priority areas defined by the community consultation: • Affordable homes To facilitate this work, a number of specialist Working Groups were set up with the support of local associations and enthusiastic volunteers. This Totnes & District Community Action Plan will make a significant contribution to the overall community strategies being developed by our District and County Councils to improve economic, social and environmental benefits to the community. In developing our local strategy for this Action Plan, we have received unstinting support from the Totnes Town Council, South Hams District Council and Devon County Council. Throughout the process, they have proved themselves committed partners in formulating our community plans and visions for the future and will undoubtedly continue to contribute to their development. We are very grateful. You may now ask: Where do we go from here? The publication of this Community Action Plan marks the beginning of a new phase in our endeavours to fulfil the visions and ideas of our communities. We have forged productive and supportive relationships with our local government partners and we must now go together to the 'brokering table' to persuade funding organisations and service providers of the validity of the projects and programmes that the Community has identified. It is no easy task, for the pot of money grows smaller by the day and there are many hands reaching out to take their share. We do have, however, full confidence that the enthusiasm and expertise of the people of Totnes and District will overcome difficulties and be successful. |
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Tom Maugham |
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In November 2001 I joined approximately 100 other like-minded people at the first meeting of what was to become the Totnes and District Strategy Group. Then the concept of producing a cohesive plan to take the Town forward over the next 20 years seemed daunting, but nonetheless very exciting and challenging. The process to produce the final plan was long, sometimes arduous and difficult and had its setbacks. However, the plan that has finally been produced, and which is contained in this document, is a tribute to the vision, hard work and persistence of all the people, both volunteers and officials, who have worked so hard over the last four years to achieve the final outcome. I am both proud and privileged to be able to congratulate all those involved. I now look forward to seeing the next stage – the achievement of many of the exciting projects proposed in the document. |
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Councillor Pruw Boswell Harper |
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Many of the photographs illustrating the plan were taken by the members of the community, as part of a project funded by English Heritage. The project organised by Kath Graham through English Heritage’s Outreach programme aims to capture the essence of Totnes through the eyes of individual community members. |
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1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 What is a Community Action Plan? A community Action Plan (CAP) is a document written to co-ordinate improvements and inspire action at a local level. The document is based on priorities and ideas, which local people have raised through community consultation using questionnaires, workshops, meetings and events. Totnes & District Community Strategy Group, in partnership with organisations such as Totnes Town Council, South Hams District Council and Devon County Council, will use the document to take action in Totnes and its surrounding area. It will also be used to co-ordinate proposals for improvements with organisations such as Devon County Council. The Plan will lead to action at a number of different levels: • Actions led by local people or driven by the Community Action Plan. Why have an Action Plan? A local community can prepare a Community Action Plan under a number of initiatives. The Totnes Community Action Plan is part of the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative (MCTi). The Action Plan sets out local people’s issues and the action that can be taken to address them. For each action, or project, there is information about who should be involved, what resources are needed and what should happen next. The ideas are laid out in this way to make it easier to measure progress. The Action Plan gives the opportunity for a local strategy group or community forum to move beyond discussion and translate ideas into action and improvements within the community. Actions and projects will vary in the length of time they take to be fulfilled and some may not happen at all; however, the Plan will provide a focussed way for local people and statutory organisations to work together, make improvements and monitor progress. For the local community, the Action Plan helps clarify future directions for organisations such as Totnes Town Council, and builds a consensus around priority areas. For a statutory organisation, the Action Plan provides a framework for supporting communities and gives a practical way for delivering National and Local Government policies. It will also give guidance and indicate what projects have community support within the town, and can be used to influence local authority priorities and attract funding. 1.2 What is a sustainable community? Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work, now and in the future, i.e. people will actually want to stay in a place because they find it satisfying and appealing. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are also safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all. However, the process of creating and sustaining communities (i.e. regeneration) is complex. Sustainable communities actually need to be understood as ‘sustainable development’ in its full social, economic and environmental sense. Sustainable Development is about creating the best quality of life without compromising the chances of future generations to do the same, and without drawing on resources needed now and by others elsewhere. Sustainable development involves complex and ambitious goals, which are holistic (i.e. environmental, social and economic), and take a long-term and wide-angle view on perspective and consequences. This kind of development also recognises that issues are often interdependent and have to be worked out at different decision-making levels. What makes a community sustainable? The factors that distinguish a sustainable community should be: • Active, inclusive and safe – fair, tolerant and cohesive with a strong local culture and other shared community activities. 1.3 The Market and Coastal Towns Initiative: The Market and Coastal Towns Initiative (MCTi) was launched in 2001 by a regional partnership of organisations in response to Government and South West regional policy initiatives. Its fundamental purpose was to promote the regeneration of market and coastal towns. The importance of market towns, serving their rural hinterlands, had been identified in a range of key policies, including: • Rural White Paper The Vision of the Market & Coastal Towns Initiative was to create vibrant, healthy and sustainable market and coastal towns in the South West by helping local communities and their partners to: • Prepare plans for their future covering all aspects of community life in their towns and surrounding rural areas, Led in the South West by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), the MCTi enables local partnerships to develop the capacity and capability to prepare Community Strategic Plans for regeneration that are locally developed, locally supported and reflect local needs. It will also help co-ordinate local and regional agencies and provide a ‘gateway’ to funding programmes. There are four principles for regeneration activity that are supported through the MCTi: • It should either create economic growth or achieve stability within the local economy, Achieving the aim of the MCTi is a long-term goal, which requires co-ordination, commitment and sustained community involvement. 1.4 The Policy Framework There are a number of reasons for including this information in the Action Plan: • When planning a community project, it is important to be mindful of what issues the statutory organisations have decided should be given priority to and based their policies on. Often these policies have been carefully researched and structured to tackle issues in a holistic way rather than dealing with issues in isolation. Totnes Town Council The Town Council collaborates closely with South Hams District Council on a range of services and policies. The Town Council’s own key priorities for Totnes are: • Tourism - which includes developing tourism, the marketing of the town’s assets and catering for visitors’ needs. District Context South Hams District Council’s vision for 2003-2006 is to improve the well-being of the people of the South Hams. To achieve its objective, the District Council has identified six priority measures: • Secure a supply of housing for local people at affordable levels, The Council is also committed to: • Equality of opportunity and particularly targeting hard-to-reach and vulnerable groups, In terms of community strategy, the Council and its partners intend to focus on three key priorities which have emerged through consultation and have a predominately social and economic emphasis: • Accessible services, supporting active and caring communities: Equity of access to services where no-one feels disadvantaged by virtue of where they live or their own personal circumstances, County Context Devon County Council’s vision for 2003-2008 is working towards a high quality of life for everyone in Devon by promoting opportunities and independence for all, reducing inequalities and sustaining our high quality environment. To deliver its objectives the County Council has set itself seven goals: • Achieving a prosperous Devon: (where) people’s needs and aspirations are met by a range of employment opportunities in a competitive and sustainable economy, The County Council also identified three priority issues for change: • Improving life opportunities for younger and older people in Devon, Regional Context The South West of England Regional Development Agency’s work programme for 2003-2010 is based on four strategic drivers: • The environment Its three key strategic objectives are: 1. To raise business productivity These principles are guided by the Agency’s ten corporate plan themes: • Support Business Growth The work is also guided by the cross-cutting principles of: • Sustainable development National Context The Government’s Rural Whitepaper: Our Countryside: The Future- A Fair Deal for Rural England is the starting point for all the various Market town initiatives as it established the principle of Market towns as the service centres for a hinterland of parishes and that any community planning had to define and embrace the hinterland of parishes. |
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Click here for 2.0 Background to the Plan |
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