Strategic Community Planning Partnership For Ards And North Down Holds First Meeting

The first meeting of the Strategic Community Planning Partnership for Ards and North Down, set up to facilitate Community Planning for the area, took place last Wednesday (30 September) at Bangor Town Hall.

Delegates from 19 statutory organisations representing education, employment, policing, the economy and the environment were in attendance.

Community planning is a new power of local authorities in Northern Ireland since April 2015 and will join up the efforts of public sector, business, voluntary and community organisations, already involved in delivering services, to plan and deliver better outcomes. Deputy Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Carl McClean, said:xa0“Community planning is fundamentally about working together. Rather than each organisation involved in developing our Community Plan looking solely to improve their own area of interest, the process we will follow will enable organisations to consider their concerns alongside other issues that are important to the local area. This will deliver better, more co-ordinated services for everyone in our borough.” Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Borough Council, Stephen Reid, chaired the meeting. He added:xa0“Ards and North Down Borough Council aims to make the borough a better place to live, work, visit and invest. Leading Community Planning is just one of the ways it works to achieve this, by aligning public services to deliver more cohesive, and therefore more effective, outcomes. “The first meeting of the Strategic Community Planning Partnership was very positive, with all the organisations in attendance agreeing to give precedence to Community Planning and play a full and active role in its delivery. The next year will be spent identifying the key priorities for the Ards and North Down area. “As part of the process, the Community Planning Partnership will be asking residents to tell us what they think our priorities should be. I would encourage everyone to take the time to engage with us, whether this is by attending local consultation activities, completing online questionnaires or providing feedback via our comment cards. Keep an eye out in the local press and on the Council’s website for more details on how to participate.”