‘Everyone has opportunities to engage in community life and shape decisions – we have a strong sense of community belonging and take pride in our area’ Connected – Our Community Plan
By way of context the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (SPPS) 2015, in order to assist with sustainable development, identifies five core-planning principles one of which is ‘Supporting Good Design and Positive Place Making’.
The aim of place shaping within Community Planning will be;
- To improve the economic social and environmental well-being of the selected ‘place’, through harnessing place shaping powers and functions within Council and from partners.
- To ensure that the aspirations of the community plan are realised at a local level, and bring together other borough wide plans to life locally to include spatial elements and following key messages from the Council’s preferred options paper.
The place shaping development process;
- Ascertain baseline and statistical profile of the place
- Develop a place plan as an end product of the process
- Helps to understand the place, its context, the place offering, assets strengths, gaps and challenges
- Promote accessibility and inclusivity for all, creating a welcome and safe place
- Promote the implementation of existing/complementary strategies by prioritising relevant actions.
- Will include building blocks as actions to help to shape the place in response to practical issues and the needs of the place and community