| Community
Consultation
Once you have established
your group or organisation and have decided to proceed with
a particular project, it is essential that you carry out some
form of community consultation, especially if you are hoping
to apply for funding from external sources. Large funding
bodies such as the National Lottery will always look for community
support before they will consider taking the application further.
Surveys
and Questionnaires
There are various
ways to find out the views of your community. You could carry
out a survey or questionnaire, a form of research that enables
you to ascertain opinion on certain issues. There are two
ways to carry out a survey. You can either distribute forms
for people to complete on their own over a set period of time,
or you can actually interview people individually, completing
the forms for them. It is probably more effective to carry
out the latter method, but it is obviously more time consuming.
You must make sure
that the people you survey represent a fair sample of your
community. For example if you know that 30% of the population
are under 18, but your survey includes only 5% in this age
group, your sample will not be representative of the community
as a whole. In a small community it may be possible to interview
every person, but in a larger area that would not be feasible,
in which case you should make sure you have the appropriate
percentages of people within the older and younger age groups.
The results of
the survey then need to be evaluated.
Useful information
can be found on the Forward Scotland Community Webnet - Planning
and running a survey, which can be accessed on:
www.forward-scotland.org.uk
“Planning
for Real”®
Planning for Real
® was established by the Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation
in 1977, and has evolved to become one of the most popular
and well-used methods of community consultation in the U.K.
It is a technique
that involves the whole community, allowing everyone to have
a say and put their views forward. The process involves the
building of a 3D model of the community which can be carried
out by local adults and children. It gives everyone involved
a chance to learn about the history of the area and to start
looking at the community as a whole, expressing ideas and
concerns.
Next are the Planning
for Real ® events, which are open to all. They can take
the form of a “Fun Day” or a “drop-in “
event where all members of the community are able to come
in and view the model and place coloured “suggestion”
and “problem” cards on it in the relevant places.
This process is done anonymously and there are blank cards
for people to add their own ideas. It is a good idea to have
“experts”, such as housing officers, the police,
and planning officers present to answer any questions and
offer advice
During the event,
the cards are removed at intervals and carefully recorded
for use in the “Prioritising” stage.
This often takes
place at a separate meeting, although some communities carry
this out at the main event. At this meeting all of the suggestions
put forward are given a priority of NOW, SOON, or LATER and
the results are recorded and eventually a list of priorities
emerge which go on to be included in an Action Plan, which
is owned by the whole community.
If your community
wants to find out more about Planning for Real®, contact
the Buchan Development Partnership who have
trained staff available to help you through the process.
Alternatively,
contact The Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation, The Poplars,
Lightmoor, Telford NF4 3QN
Tel: 0870 7700339 Fax: 01952 591771
www.nifonline.org.uk
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