Our Community Plan
Foreword from the Mayor & Chief Executive Today we celebrate the significant consultation, engagement and co-design process we have used to help shape our Community Plan. Over 1,700 people – our young people, residents, businesses, community and voluntary organisations and statutory partners have all played an important role in developing draft outcomes and actions to improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of this City and Region. Our eight Thematic Working Groups have worked diligently over the past four months. The participants have provided a deep insight, a vast wealth of knowledge and specific areas of expertise. This has ensured energised and informative discussions took place throughout the working group phase. During today’s event we will receive feedback from each of the thematic working group chairs on their experiences and receive the draft outcomes created as part of the process. Whilst we move into the testing phase we would like to thank you sincerely for the civic role you have played in developing the Community Plan to date. We will also need your feedback on the draft plan when it is released for consultation in Spring 2016. In the meantime we would encourage you to sign up to your Local Community Planning Group. You can find information on local plans at: www. derrystrabane.com/communityplanning. If you have any questions or would like to be added to our Community Planning update list please get in touch via: info@derrystrabane.com. We sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed taking part in Community Planning to date and look forward to your input in the local plans!
Feedback from our Thematic Groups
A word from our Co-Chairs
Education & Skills “Participants in the Education and Skills Thematic Group within the Community Planning exercise were very committed and enthusiastic. There was great attendance at the workshops and some really interesting input and debate from all education and skills sectors. It was very rewarding to co-chair this group.” Dr Heather Sayers
Entrepreneurship, Enterprise & Regional Competitiveness “The key to growth in an ever changing society is carefully managed Community Planning. The process we have followed in Derry and Strabane has put our region ahead of many others in defining the economy we want for our citizens in the future. It has been a long and collective process across the public, private and social economy sectors but in the end we have achieved a set of goals which should provide jobs and prosperity.” Brian O’Neill
Tourism, Arts & Culture “Our Tourism, Hospitality and Arts community is hugely experienced and full of passion and promise, and the Community Planning process has been a really interesting way of bringing together all the people on the ground who serve customers and deliver events. It was amazing to hear all the different ideas that participants had and also how committed they all were about growing and improving the prospects for Derry and Strabane. It was my great pleasure to be involved.” Jennifer McKeever
Children & Young People “I have been impressed with the constructive and inclusive manner in which our sessions were undertaken and am hopeful that this will translate into a genuine shared agenda for Children and Young People in the Council district. I’m delighted that it has been able to build on and incorporate the good work already done by the Early Intervention Strategic Partnership in its plan and Council regarding the Childs Rights agenda. A successful Community Plan from our perspective would see effective partnerships across the district which ensure that when all our children arrive for school at age 5 they would possess the capacity to achieve their full potential. This the most important change we can make to fundamentally alter the social and economic landscape of the region.” John Meehan
Health & Well-Being “As co-chair of the Health and Wellbeing group I offer my thanks to everyone who took part in the workshops and for making our job as co-chairs easy, interesting and enjoyable. The working group included a broad range of stakeholders from the community, business and voluntary sectors as well as individual service users and practitioners who worked together in a common goal of community planning for the future. I believe the health and wellbeing group has done a good job in identifying baseline provision ,evidencing need, and putting forward targeted and measurable objectives within a prioritised action plan which will contribute positively to a community plan for the Derry and Strabane area.” Gerard Harkin
Community Development “When I took part in community planning thematic group I had very little knowledge regarding the subject. Community is like a jigsaw puzzle - you need all pieces, no matter how large or small to complete the picture. Derry City & Strabane District Council should reflect the demographic of the community it’s set in and ensure that they involve ethnic minority groups and the young generation in community planning in order to turn ambition into action.” Rekha Dromgoole
Physical & Environmental Regeneration “Community Planning is creating a new dynamism in our local regeneration efforts and by focusing on outcomes the process of better thought-out solutions, better use of resources and better co-operation between partners has begun. We’ve made a good start….but we need to make sure that there is a strong link between strategic and local action plans within the wider Derry~Strabane community planning framework, giving more attention to closing the inequalities gap and tackling community regeneration priorities by fully engaging local communities on the key issues which affect them.” Darren Kirby
Infrastructure, Energy & Transport “Although my involvement in the current Community Planning process has been limited due to work commitments I believe that the involvement of the various stakeholders in setting the vision and plan for the city and region for the next 20 years is a valuable and energising process that engages the potential, capacity, passion and support of those who want to play a meaningful part in shaping this city and what it has to offer for future generations.” Roy Devine
Engaging with Children and Young People Derry City and Strabane District Council is committed to meaningful engagement with our children and young people to ensure their views and opinions are at the heart of this plan. Children and young people will benefit most from this process and it is imperative the outcomes and actions set from the working groups are reflective of what children and young people want to see for this new Council area in the future. We have carried out a number of exercises to ensure we have engaged with our younger citizens over the last number of months.
Some facts & figures on the engagement • • •
Over 700 children and young people engaged with 1716 wishes made The most popular wishes were:
Not to be bored
To be healthy and happy
To have a good job
A safe area to live
Good community
Our Emerging Draft Outcomes z
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Cross Cutting Aim t t t t t t
Building a united and cohesive community (Good Relations) t t t t t t
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Rural Development t t t t t t
Communications
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Social Well-Being To improve the quality of life of all our people now and in the future.
Community Development We are supported to be more actively engaged and involved in the life of our community and can influence the decisions which affect our lives. We live within more cohesive communities and have access to good quality services and facilities. Our Community and Voluntary groups are more resilient and sustainable.
Health and Wellbeing We have improved physical health, mental health and emotional wellbeing and health inequalities have been reduced. We are more physically active. We are better supported to age well and live independently.
Children and Young People Our children and young people feel safer, healthier, more respected and included. Our children and young people have enhanced opportunities to fully realise their potential and become active, responsible citizens.
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Economic Well-Being
Environmental Well-Being
To grow and sustain our economy to create more and better employment opportunities for everyone.
To live in a low carbon, sustainably designed and connected region.
Entrepreneurship, Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness
Physical and Environmental Regeneration
We have grown our economic base by being a more entrepreneurial and creative region which is business ready and we have a compelling investment proposition.
We benefit from more well-designed, maintained, and utilised high quality public realm, greenways and public spaces.
We are better economically connected regionally, nationally and internationally and significantly contribute to the economy on both sides of the border. We have achieved greater competitive advantage and international recognition by being more specialised, more innovative and more productive in our priority sectors and specialist clusters.
Education and Skills Our young people have improved levels of attainment from primary to post primary and a desire for life long learning. We have increased access to more learning opportunities through the expansion of our higher and further learning institutions. We have increased and better labour market opportunities with a simplified employment and skills system to assist us obtaining and sustaining work. We have a better skilled, educated and flexible work force to stimulate productivity and improve competitiveness.
Tourism Arts and Culture We live in the cultural destination of choice on the Island of Ireland, championing our people and place by delivering world-class visitor experiences to our local and global audiences.
Our local development plan contributes to the development of sustainable, safe and cohesive communities and to meeting the housing need and demand of all our citizens. We are more supported to practice environmental stewardship through a programme of active learning, participation and volunteering. Our built and natural heritage assets are better protected, enhanced and shared so we increase biodiversity, attract economic growth and improve social wellbeing.
Energy, Infrastructure and Transport We are recognised as a low carbon region with a more secure and affordable energy supply. Resources are used for as long as possible, have maximum value extracted from them and are recovered and regenerated at the end of their service life to achieve a Zero Waste Circular Economy. We have a more integrated, sustainable and accessible transport system, which maximises connectivity, supports economic growth, improves safety, social inclusion and quality of life. We have access to clear drinking water, our waste water is treated to protect the environment and human health and our Stormwater more effectively managed to minimise disruption to essential facilities.
Our Strategic Framework
Making it Happen! Our next steps and timelines
Keeping Connected Visit our website on: www.derrystrabane.com/communityplanning Email us at: info@derrystrabane.com Derry City and Strabane District Council @dcsdcouncil Call us: (+44) 28 71 253 253
We’d love to hear your views on Community Planning to date. You can find a survey here: www.derrystrabane.com/ communityplanning We would really appreciate your views on the Community Planning process to date so we can make sure you continue to enjoy the experience!
This document is available upon request in a number of formats including large print, braille, PDF, audiocassette and minority languages. For more information, call Derry City & Strabane District Council: (028) 71 253 253.