countryside agency market towns healthcheck handbook march-2005

Market Towns

HealthcheckHandbook

March 2005

Market Towns

Healthcheck

Handbook

March 2005

Market towns are at the heart of life in rural England. For centuriesthese towns have been the focal point for commercial and socialactivity. They have been places in which to find work, to buy and sellgoods, and to find valued specialist services. But in recent years manyof these functions have been undermined by social, industrial andagricultural change. Some towns are adapting to these changingdemands and are thriving, but many are in decline.

There is a new role for market towns in the 21st century: revitalisedtowns which meet the needs of local people and which provide accessto a wide range of retail, leisure, professional and public services. Mostimportantly, they should be towns whose futures are shaped by thepeople and communities who live in and around them.

The action planning approach, based on the Countryside Agency’shealthcheck, has proved its usefulness in more than 200 communitiesalready. It has acted as a catalyst, drawing together disparate groupsand activities, and providing the tools to engage the local communityand a wide range of partners. It has created a sense of identity, helpingto instil a feeling of pride and sense of purpose within the community.And it has demonstrated that communities within the towns have theskills and resources available to influence their regeneration, future roleand identity. This revised handbook incorporates many of the lessonsdrawn from their experience.

The healthcheck helps local people to appraise the strengths,weaknesses, future demands and opportunities of market towns. It ispart of a much bigger toolkit which has also been revised and updated,giving people access to the funding and advice needed to take actionto revitalise towns. By applying the toolkit, getting involved in a localpartnership and carrying out a healthcheck you will be helping to createan exciting new future for your town. You can also access a nationalnetwork of towns doing similar work, through Action for Market Towns,and benefit from their advice.

On behalf of Action for Market Towns, therefore, I welcome this revisedhandbook and encourage you to become involved. Market townsmatter.

Julian Owen, Chairman, Action for Market Towns

Foreword

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005 iii

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005iv

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005 v

Page

Introduction 1What is in this handbook 1What is a market town? 1What is the hinterland? 2What is a market town healthcheck? 3What is an action plan? 5What is involved in carrying out a healthcheck? 5How long will it take? 9What else can a healthcheck do for a market town? 9

1 Setting up a market town partnership 111.1 Role of a partnership 111.2 Organising a partnership 111.3 Role of a healthcheck coordinator 141.4 Steering a partnership 161.5 Role of working groups 181.6 Obtaining specialist advice 181.7 Ensuring full community involvement 191.8 Regional market town groups 21

2 Gaining community commitment 252.1 Arranging a community event to establish

the issues 252.2 Holding a community event 25

3 Completing a healthcheck 293.1 ‘Snapshot’ of the town and surrounding countryside 293.2 Answering the worksheets 293.3 The structure of the worksheets 303.4 Drawing the results together 33

4 Creating a vision 374.1 Why the vision is important 374.2 Holding a community event to establish the vision 374.3 Reporting on the vision 384.4 The visioning challenge 394.5 How the vision fits in the healthcheck process 40

Contents

5 Preparing an action plan 435.1 Format of an action plan 435.2 Taking the vision into account 465.3 Identifying available resources 465.4 Identifying priorities for action 46

6 Putting the plan into action 516.1 Project management 516.2 Carrying out actions 526.3 Monitoring and evaluating results 536.4 Publicising and celebrating achievements 546.5 Reviewing the vision and action plan 54

7 Sustaining the partnership 577.1 The need to review and move on 577.2 Partnership function, influence and performance 577.3 Partnership legal form and organisational arrangements 597.4 Generating income for long-term viability 63

Glossary of terms 66

List of figuresFigure 1 Market towns healthcheck 6Figure 2 Healthcheck process flow diagram 8Figure 3 Suggested organisations to involve in a

market town partnership 13Figure 4 Structuring the market town partnership 14Figure 5 Sources of specialist advice 20Figure 6 The structure of the worksheets 31Figure 7 Healthcheck report format 35Figure 8 Suggested contents for an action plan 44Figure 9 Action plan structure 48Figure 10 Implementing the action plan 52Figure 11 Organisational legal forms 60Figure 12 Legal status summary features 62

Contents

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005vi

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005 vii

Contents

List of boxes included in the textBox 1 The hinterland 3Box 2 Community participation in the market towns

healthcheck 4Box 3 The benefits of the market town healthcheck 5Box 4 Principles of successful community partnerships 15Box 5 Skills and experiences for effective steering groups 17Box 6 Making the partnership inclusive and representative 21Box 7 Deciding on the town’s hinterland or catchment area 21Box 8 Widening the partnership to include several towns 22Box 9 SWOT analysis 32Box 10 A market town vision 37Box 11 Why creating a vision is essential 38Box 12 Preparing the action plan 44Box 13 What is needed from the Project Manager 53Box 14 Terms of reference for the partnership 57Box 15 Assessing performance 58Box 16 Roles in a balanced partnership 59Box 17 Examples of community social enterprise 63

List of case studies: They did it – you can tooOkehampton 10Guisborough 23Gloucestershire Market Towns 24Penistone 27Ramsey 28Todmorden 36Shipston on Stour 41Whitby 49Wolverton 55Frodsham 56Malton and Norton 64Keswick 65

Photo creditsCover ©Countryside Agency/Charlie HedleyPage 2 ©Countryside Agency Art ExplosionPage 12 Art ExplosionPage 16 ©Countryside Agency/Charlie HedleyPage 18 ©Countryside Agency/Alexander CaminadaPage 22 ©Countryside Agency/Alexander CaminadaPage 26 ©Countryside Agency/Rob FraserPage 34 ©Countryside AgencyPage 40 ©Countryside Agency/Andy Tryner

©Countryside Agency/Charlie HedleyPage 51 ©Countryside Agency/Graham ParishPage 53 ©Countryside AgencyPage 54 ©Countryside Agency/Charlie HedleyPage 65 ©Countryside Agency

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005

Contents

viii

What is in this handbook? This handbook is a practical guide to carryingout a market town healthcheck. It has beenwritten for people in market towns and thesurrounding countryside or ‘hinterland’ whowant to take action to revitalise their town.

The handbook is: ❖ a guide to the stages involved in setting up

a market town partnership, carrying out ahealthcheck, drawing up an action planand putting the plan into action;

❖ part of a web-based toolkit that offersadvice for market town improvements,including advice on routes to obtainingfinancial support;

❖ not a prescribed set of rules, but areference book that can be adapted tolocal circumstances.

As well as the handbook there is a lot ofinformation available on the internet that maybe helpful in completing the healthcheck.Much of it is free.

What is a market town? The term ‘market town’ covers towns in ruralEngland with a variety of backgrounds,including those that have traditionally hostedan agricultural market, as well as seasideresorts, fishing ports, mining andmanufacturing towns. Populations rangeroughly from 2,000 to 20,000, but the abilityto serve people in both the town and itssurrounding countryside is more importantthan the town’s size.

The way a town functions depends on how itis used by people living in the town itself and

by those living in outlying rural communities.Any approach to market town revitalisationneeds to consider people in both the townand the surrounding countryside. ‘Markettown’ is used here as a shorthand for both thetown and the surrounding countryside.

Gaining a good understanding of thefunctions of a town is not necessarily easy.Rural lives have become increasinglycomplex. It is unlikely that market towns arecentres for nearly all the activities of theirresidents, and for those of people living in the‘hinterland’. The service and employmentroles of a town vary considerably from townto town, and are also quite different for townresidents and those living in the hinterland.

Some market towns are in good health andsome are experiencing decline. All markettowns have the potential to be: ❖ comprehensive local service centres

where people can access professionalservices such as solicitors, surveyors,opticians and travel agencies;

❖ distinctive places where development forhousing and jobs is welcomed because itreinforces the character of the place whilemeeting the needs of rural society;

❖ centres for the processing of localproducts, especially food;

❖ places where the range of shops meetsthe needs of people from the ruralhinterland;

❖ locations for farmers’ markets;

❖ focal points for properly planned andcoordinated local transport networks;

❖ centres for culture – art, music, theatre orcinema;

Market Towns Healthcheck Handbook March 2005 1

Introduction

❖ hubs or gateways for tourism, capitalisingon the assets of the place and the nearbycountryside;

❖ access points for a wide range of training,education and employment opportunities.

What is the hinterland?Traditionally, market towns have been thoughtof as the main centres for services andemployment for people who live in thehinterland – (the rural areas surrounding atown).

This concept is based on the idea thatdistance is the main constraint on people’sactivities in the countryside, for reasons eitherof cost or convenience. But levels of rural carownership and use are at an all-time high,and in real terms the cost of motoring hasnever been cheaper. This means that rural

lives are much less constrained by distance,and this has direct implications for markettowns and their hinterlands.

People in the hinterland use the towndifferently from town residents and in generalare far less ‘attached’ to the town than isusually supposed. Place of work generatesdifferent patterns once again, giving some ofthe longest average travel distances to asurprisingly wide range of destinations. Notwo towns appear to be alike, and theirfunctions will be determined by the mix of:❖ the nature of the town;

❖ the nature of the town’s location relative tothe villages and the open countryside, andthe influences of infrastructure such astransport links;

❖ the relationship with other towns – thisfactor is particularly influenced byinfrastructure.


Introduction

2


Introduction

What is a market townhealthcheck? The market town healthcheck: ❖ allows local people to identify the

economic, environmental and socialstrengths and weaknesses of a markettown and its surrounding countryside;

❖ helps people to identify the impact ofchanging local circumstances;

❖ is a sound basis for creating an action planfor revitalisation.

It differs significantly from audits or surveysthat focus on town centre activities, whichconcentrate typically on a narrow range of

Box 1 The hinterland

Here are some essential factors to bear in mind when trying to define the hinterland:

❖ Simple distance or travel time should not be taken as a direct indicator of the functional

connection between a town and its hinterland.

❖ Administrative boundaries (wards, districts, etc.) are just that – boundaries convenient for

administration. They do not indicate function.

❖ It is not sufficient to define hinterland just in terms of the areas that a town might want to be

more closely associated with – the proper focus must be on what is actually happening.

❖ Sources from which you might gain an indication of the extent of the hinterland include

school catchment areas, health facilities, transport schemes, the locations of registered users

of a range of public services, and of customers of businesses in the towns.

❖ Shared knowledge and views of the members of the partnership may be useful for defining

the hinterland – but be careful, as there is a tendency to both under- and over-exaggerate.

❖ It is unlikely that a town will have a unified service role for residents of the hinterland –

people will make greater use of the town for some services than for others.

❖ It cannot be assumed that people will make similar trips for service use and work – people

tend to live different service and work ‘lives’.

❖ In some areas, nearby towns may have interrelated functional roles such as either sharing

roles or ‘borrowing’ each other’s specialisms and strengths.

❖ The ways in which townspeople and hinterland residents use the town will be quite different.

❖ Hinterland is not a ‘tidy’ concept – a town’s functional influence will vary for different

functions and will be blurred because of influence from neighbouring towns and urban areas.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a ‘perfect’ collection of information with which to establish your

town’s hinterland. Given the essentially variable nature of contemporary hinterlands, there is

unlikely to be just one right way to establish them. The task is far more a matter of collecting

together enough useful information to gain sufficient understanding of the town’s functions, and

hence the nature of its hinterland, in order to give confidence in planning for its future.


Introduction

4

retail and related services. This healthchecknot only covers the whole town and itssurrounding countryside, but enables peopleto look at a wide range of connected issuesthat affect the quality of life. It can be used by people in market towns of any size (seeBox 2 below). The healthcheck, leading to arejuvenated and healthy market town, willbenefit residents and visitors alike (see Box 3 on page 5).

The healthcheck consists of a series ofworksheets that contain questions aboutenvironmental, social and economic issues.Answering the worksheets can lead to avision for the future of the town, from which aplan of action can be prepared. Carrying outa healthcheck requires commitment from allmembers of the community; it is a processthat is led by a partnership of market towninterests.

Box 2 Community participation in the market towns healthcheck

What is it…?

❖ A means to unlock the ideas, resources and commitment that exist in all communities, and to

direct them to managing change and delivering that shared vision.

❖ A practical and democratic way to involve the community as widely as possible in the future

of the town and its surrounding countryside.

❖ A means to devise and deliver an action plan and specific projects, which have widespread

support, in order to help achieve the vision over the short, medium and longer terms.

… and what can be achieved?

❖ Mutually supportive working links between different sections of the community, including

businesses, service providers, voluntary groups, the public sector and the community at large.

❖ A shared vision of the future identity, function and quality of life in the town, which meets

the needs of its residents and the people it serves in the surrounding area.

❖ A sustainable future for the town and its hinterland, embracing business, transport, the

environment, and social and community facilities.

❖ The reinforcement of civic pride and identity, strengthening existing community groups, and

the resolution of long standing differences of view between different groups in the

community.


Introduction

What is an action plan? An action plan is a tried and tested way ofsetting out projects that will assist inrevitalising a town. A successful action planwill demonstrate that the pressures andopportunities identified during the healthcheckare being addressed, and that the projectsthat are taken forward complement ratherthan duplicate initiatives already in place.Putting the plan into action usually requires aproject manager who supports the markettown partnership and helps acquire fundingand advice.

What is involved in carryingout a healthcheck? The stages of carrying out a healthcheck andpreparing an action plan are illustrated inFigure 1 on pages 6–7. They are:

1 Setting up a market town partnership

2 Gaining community commitment

3 Completing a healthcheck

4 Creating a vision

5 Preparing an action plan

6 Putting the plan into action

7 Sustaining the partnership

Box 3 The benefits of the market towns healthcheck

❖ A way to bring residents of the town and the surrounding countryside together.

❖ An inclusive approach to regeneration that involves all ages and sections of the community.

❖ A tool for communities to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and devise a shared

but achievable vision for regeneration and revitalisation.

❖ A way to set standards and learn from what is happening in other successful community

development and regeneration projects.

❖ A way to produce practical action plans which direct resources and effort to achieving real

improvements and projects.

❖ A key tool in producing robust action plans which have widespread community support and

that secure funding and support from national, regional and local programmes for

revitalising rural and urban communities.

❖ A way to produce a properly researched action plan that is influential in the decisions that

public authorities have to make; for instance, in local plans, transport and health service

investment programmes.


Introduction

6

1 Setting up a market town partnership

Purpose: ❖ To set up a partnership that represents

the main interests of people in the townand surrounding countryside.

❖ To organise the partnership to carry outa healthcheck, set a vision for the townand its rural area, prepare an actionplan, and put the plan into action.

Main elements: ❖ Ensure the membership and size of the

partnership reflects both its aims and thebreadth of issues that affect a particulartown.

❖ If possible, appoint someone to act as acoordinator to work closely with thepartnership to carry out the healthcheck.

❖ Appoint a steering group with membersand a chairperson.

❖ Set up working groups to take onresponsibility for tackling specificworksheets.

❖ Seek specialist advice from professionalsworking for organisations in the town, orwho provide specific services, such asthe district, unitary or county council.

❖ Involve communities in the town andsurrounding areas.


Purpose: ❖ To get a full understanding of the

healthcheck and involvement frompeople in the town and surroundingcountryside.

❖ To map out the main issues of concernto the community.

Main elements: ❖ The partnership needs to arrange a

community event to establish the issuesof concern.

❖ Identifying the strengths, weaknesses,opportunities and threats facing the town.


Purpose: ❖ To draw together a ‘snapshot’ of the town

and surrounding countryside.

❖ To tackle the questions in the worksheetswhich help identify strengths andweaknesses.

❖ To draw together the results in a report,in preparation for creating a vision anddrawing up an action plan.

Main elements: ❖ Carry out a factual ‘snapshot’ of the

market town to provide a backgroundthat can be balanced with thecommunity’s aspirations.

❖ Answer worksheets covering these fourmain topic areas: environment, economy,social and community issues, transportand accessibility.

❖ Draw the results together to highlightproblems or opportunities that should beacted upon.

❖ Hold an event, to which all members ofthe partnership and invited members ofthe community attend, to agree thehealthcheck. cont.

Figure 1: Market towns healthcheck


Introduction

4 Creating a vision

Purpose:❖ To work with the community to create a

vision for the town and surroundingcountryside based on the healthcheck.

Main elements: ❖ Hold a community event to establish a

vision.

❖ Prepare a report on the vision containingterms of practical objectives.


Purpose:❖ To prepare an action plan to achieve the

objectives agreed in the vision.

❖ To secure community support for theaction plan.

Main elements:❖ Take the vision into account.

❖ Identify available resources.

❖ Identify priorities for action.

❖ Establish monitoring and evaluationcriteria.


Purpose:❖ To put the plan into action and achieve

results.

❖ To monitor and evaluate progress.

❖ To review the vision and action plan.

Main elements:❖ Appoint a project manager.

❖ Set out a clear programme of action.

❖ Demonstrate achievements to thepartnership, wider community andfunding partners.

❖ Monitor and evaluate results.

❖ Review the vision and action plan.


Purpose:❖ To review the structure, function, and

performance of the partnership.

❖ To make sure the partnership continuesto represent the main interests of peoplein the town and surrounding countryside.

❖ To plan for the ongoing success of themarket town action plan.

Main elements:❖ Clearly identify the roles and

responsibilities for those in the partnership.

❖ Restructure a partnership to take on alegal structure appropriate to its function.

❖ Find ways to reduce reliance on short-term funding and explore opportunitiesfor greater financial independence.


Introduction

8

Figure 2 below shows how the stages andactions relate to each other. Not all towns willneed to start at Stage 1. Some towns will findthey are already well on their way in terms ofestablishing an effective partnership or

getting community commitment. In suchcases towns should pick up the healthcheckprocess at whatever stage is considered mostappropriate.

Gain

community

commitment

Form

market

town

partnership

Prepare an

action plan

Create a

vision

Complete

healthcheck

worksheets

and report

Keep the

community

informed

and involved

Monitor

and

evaluate

progress

Put the plan

into action

Review

partnership

performance

Review the

vision and

action plan

Ongoing

action

planning

Re-structure

partnership

Identify

ways to

secure

income

ESTABLISH CAPACITY

RESEARCH & CONSULT

ACTION

REVIEW

SUSTAIN DEVELOPMENT

Figure 2: Healthcheck process flow diagram


Introduction

How long will it take? For market towns that have alreadyestablished a local partnership, completing ahealthcheck and preparing an action planfollowing the guidance in this handbook maytake nine to twelve months. This will allowtime to arrange workshops to involve thewider community, complete the worksheets,and produce an action plan based on ashared vision. The timescale may need to beextended for market towns that have yet toestablish a local partnership.

Putting the plan into action will take a varyingamount of time depending on the markettown. Straightforward projects might be ableto get under way immediately, but a projectmanager may need to be in place for up tothree years to get major projects under way.

What else can a healthcheckdo for a market town?The functions of a town, and so the nature ofits hinterland, are strategic issues.Organisations involved in community, publicservice and development planning, transportplanning, economic development, and arange of other work, are all interested institching together different places, includingmarket towns, to build up broader strategiesand plans to bring about change. Such workhas often been unable to capture local detaildown at the level of individual towns, and sohas relied on rather generalised views of theirfunction and roles.

The market towns healthcheck provides acritical opportunity to change thesegeneralised views if a detailed understandingof the functions of a town and nature of itshinterland is assembled. As a result, thestrategic situation of the town can be fittedinto the broader strategies more accurately; in

turn, those broader strategies can betterserve the needs of the people in the town andhinterland.

Thus, the functions of the town and thenature of its hinterland are not things that onlythe town is interested in – the partnershipshould ensure that these healthcheck findingsreach their wider audience. In particular, bydocumenting the concerns of the community,the healthcheck and action plan can beinvaluable in providing evidence to inform theCommunity Strategies prepared by LocalStrategic Partnerships (LSPs). Guidance ongood practice in establishing links betweencommunity-led action plans and CommunityStrategies has been published as Planningfor Vital Communities, which is available viathe website.


Introduction

10

They did it – you can too

Defining the hinterland ofOkehampton

The importance of defining the hinterland withreference to the function of the town has beenclearly demonstrated for Okehampton. Mapswere prepared showing trips to Okehamptonand other centres from the town itself andsample villages. The maps were based onsurveys of local people’s shopping patternsand work places. These show that althoughthe town has a strong role for supermarketshopping for surrounding villages, its role isconsiderably decreased for non-food shopping– and Exeter ’s is consequently increased.Also, while the town has a dominant role inthe provision of employment for its ownresidents (and a third of those who work inthe town walk to work), only a quarter ofvillage residents work in the town.

None of these findings may be surprising forthe residents of Okehampton and surroundingvillages, but what is important is that thefindings provide essential, previously absent,detail of direct relevance to work on thetown’s future.

The research relied on local survey work to fillin the detail of the town’s functions. Data fromthe 2001 census can be manipulated to showcommuting patterns, but there is no readilyavailable data on service use – this has to begathered locally. Conducting a service usesurvey may not be as onerous as it sounds –only 190 individual interviews were needed inOkehampton and the surrounding villages.

The research report, The Role of RuralSettlements as Service Centres (2004)prepared by Land Use Consultants gives moredetail of how to undertake this sort of work. Itis available at www.countryside.gov.uk

Purpose:❖ To set up a partnership that represents the

main interests of people in the town andsurrounding countryside.

❖ To organise the partnership to carry out ahealthcheck, set a vision for the town andits rural area, prepare an action plan, andput the plan into action.

The best way to undertake a market townhealthcheck and prepare an action plan is toset up a partnership that represents the maininterests of people living in the town andsurrounding area. Healthchecks in markettowns have not always been done bycommunity partnerships; some have beencompleted by local authorities, tourist boards,town centre managers or business groups.Where such healthchecks already exist, theywill provide useful information for answeringthe worksheets referred to in this handbook.You must be aware, however, that theapproach recommended in this handbook iscommunity-based: the healthcheck and actionplan should represent the views of thoseliving and working in the area.

1.1 Role of a partnership If the healthcheck and action plan are to beproperly based on the community’s needsand aspirations, and owned by those people,then a partnership must draw its membershipwidely from the town and immediatesurrounds. Ownership and involvement of thewider community are essential to addressmany issues that require: ❖ detailed local knowledge and skills;

❖ people to make choices about the futurethey want to experience;

❖ the commitment of businesses andindividuals, alongside public agencies, todeliver results.

A partnership can be defined as ‘a coalition oforganisations and individuals who agree towork together for a common aim, or a set ofcompatible aims’ (Civic Trust). The key topartnership working is the sharing ofresources and responsibilities betweenmembers, who should ideally work together ina cooperative and mutually supportive way.

A partnership should be transparent; in otherwords everyone must be clear about the aimsof the partnership, there should be nosecrets, and there should be mutual trust.Regular checks to ensure that all the partnersare content should take place. No one whohas been involved, even in successfulcommunity partnerships, will deny thatpartnerships can be demanding, difficult andcomplicated, particularly when trying to agreea course of action involving groups andindividuals with very different perspectives.Community partnerships do, however, ensurethat everyone is involved and everyone takes‘ownership’ of the process.

1.2 Organising apartnership

There is no ‘right’ or single way in which alocal partnership should be structured.Equally, there is no given set of organisationsthat must be represented, or a standard wayin which the partnership should operate. Thisis a matter for each community to decide. Themembership and size of the partnership


1 Setting up a market townspartnership

should reflect both its aims and the breadth ofissues that affect a particular town.

The membership should be as inclusive aspossible and reflect the interests ofcommunities in the rural areas around themarket town as well as in the town itself.Members can be drawn from interest groupsand agencies. The town or parish council is agood place to start. Suggested members aregiven in Figure 3 on page 13.

Many small towns have numerous voluntarygroups. For example, Burnham-on-Crouch,an Essex town of fewer than 8,000 people,has over 80 registered groups. There will alsobe local individuals, not necessarily membersof organised groups, who could have animportant role to play in developing localinitiatives.

The decision to bring people together couldbe taken by an individual or group of people,by the district, unitary or town or parishcouncil, or by a pre-existing partnership orinitiative in the town. The local newspapers(including any community newsletter), radioand television may be interested. Thesemedia can widen attention and keep localpeople informed.

A number of organisations have experience inestablishing and working with localpartnerships. Those that may be able toprovide help and advice in setting up a localpartnership include: ❖ the local rural community council;

❖ the local district, unitary or boroughcouncil;

❖ Action for Market Towns;

❖ the Civic Trust Regeneration Unit;

❖ established market town revitalisationpartnerships elsewhere in the region orfurther afield.

Communities that already have a partnershipor some other locally based initiative such as a health action zone, or BusinessImprovement District will be able to draw onthe advice given later in this section on howthe partnership can be widened to do ahealthcheck and action plan. It is important togive the partnership a structure that enables itto complete the healthcheck and implementthe action plan. Since its resources are theskills and energies of its members, thepartnership, at this stage, does not need tobe a legal entity. This will, however, becomeimportant once the partnership takes onmanagerial and administrative responsibilitiessuch as employing a project manager.Chapter 7 gives more details aboutpartnership structures and responsibilities.

An open forum or community partnershipstructure is suitable for the early stages ofmarket town revitalisation. The structure isoutlined in Figure 4 on page 14. Some of themain principles for successful communitypartnerships are set out in Box 4 on page 15.These flexible arrangements can work forevery scale of town and community, and canbe expanded or contracted as appropriate. Apartnership does not have a hierarchy or‘pecking order’, and each of the componentshas a complementary role to play in achievingresults. Rather like a jigsaw, the piecesshould fit together synergistically, so that thesum is greater than the parts.


Setting up a market towns partnership

12



Figure 3: Suggested organisations to involve in a market town partnership

Voluntary sector�❖❖❖❖

❖

Community representativesBlack and ethnic minority representative bodiesDomestic violence and women's support groupsCommunity development networksResidents' AssociationsTenants' AssociationsRural Community CouncilDisability groupsAge Concern/Help the AgedHealthy Living CentresLocal Wildlife TrustCivic societyCivic/town pride groupsAmenity groupsSports and leisure clubsYouth groupsFarming and Wildlife Advisory GroupCommunity ForestNational TrustReligious groups

Service providersTransport

Bus operatorsRural transport partnershipsCommunity rail partnershipsDistrict and County Councils

HealthHealth Trusts and Hospital TrustsGP practices and clinics

SocialConnexionsSurestart

CrimePolice crime prevention unitNeighbourhood Watch

HousingDistrict CouncilHousing Associations

TourismLocal Tourist BoardTourist Information Centre

Schools and collegesDay nurseriesPrimary and Junior schoolsSecondary schoolsColleges

Public sector bodies� Regional Development Agency� English Heritage� National Park Authority� AONB� Forest Enterprise� British Waterways� Arts/cultural organisations

Business groupsChamber of TradeBusiness groupsMajor employers and property owners(inc. the churches)Learning and Skills CouncilBusiness LinkMarket tradersTourism AssociationsNational Farmers' UnionRetailersFarmers' markets

Local governmentTown CouncilParish CouncilsTown Centre Management

District or Borough CouncilCommunity DevelopmentHousingLeisureEconomic DevelopmentEnvironmentPlanning

County Council/Unitary AuthorityEducationSocial ServicesHighways

The mediaPressTelevisionRadio

MARKETTOWN

PARTNERSHIP

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Figure 4: Structuring the market town partnership

1.3 Role of a healthcheckcoordinator

Carrying out a healthcheck and preparing anaction plan are activities that need to becoordinated. The partnership will benefit fromhaving someone to act as a coordinator whoshould: ❖ work closely with the partnership, its

steering group and chairman. He or shewill oversee all activities involved in doinga healthcheck and preparing an actionplan;

❖ organise the community event which gainscommitment and identifies the main issuesof concern;

❖ work closely with the working groupswhich answer the healthcheck worksheets;

❖ report back on results and work with thepartnership to create a vision;

❖ prepare an action plan based on thevision;

❖ agree an action plan with the widercommunity.



14

WORKING GROUPS

Environment

Economy Transport and Accessibility

Social and Community

Other Groups

Local Authorities

Public Agencies

Steering Group

Open Forum/Partnership

Coordinator

The ideal candidate will have a broadunderstanding of market towns and ruralrevitalisation. He or she will also have: ❖ good local knowledge;

❖ community participation skills;

❖ organisational ability;

❖ ability to communicate effectively with arange of people.



Box 4 Principles of successful community partnerships

❖ They are not hierarchies, just an effective way of working together.

❖ The forum should meet regularly, embrace new members and act mainly as an endorsing and

consultative group.

❖ As the initiative evolves, alter the membership of the steering group, keeping it to no more

than 10–12 people.

❖ The steering group should have clear but flexible terms of reference to coordinate and, in

due course, manage the action plan, staff and budgets.

❖ Look inside the partnership for a suitable coordinator, who should become a member of the

steering group. Appoint a full or part-time paid coordinator as the initiative evolves and

funding permit.

❖ Set up working groups to address key issues and interests. The working groups should have

equal status to the steering group and include at least one steering group member. Limit the

number of working groups. Give them clear and preferably non-overlapping terms of

reference. The role of working groups is to focus on particular issues, work through the

healthcheck worksheets, and report back to the steering group and the partnership as a

whole.

❖ In due course, working groups can be used to devise and implement specific projects and

initiatives. When they have done their job(s), bring their members back into the main

partnership.

❖ Create close links to other community groups and initiatives. Do not try to take them over

or ignore them.

❖ Involve staff and members of local authorities and other relevant agencies as observers and

advisors. In time, key individuals should be invited to join the steering group.

The district, unitary or county council, or thelocal rural community council, may alreadyemploy someone who could take on thecoordinator role. There may be anothercommunity or town centre managementproject in the vicinity that might sparesomeone on a part time basis. In addition,there could be a resident who has the skills,time and enthusiasm to take on the task in avoluntary capacity. A coordinator could beemployed by the partnership through financialcontributions from its members. Supportcould be available from the regionaldevelopment agencies for coordinators inspecific towns.

In the words of a town councillor who hasenthusiastically been involved in ahealthcheck, a coordinator needs to havegood ‘circus skills’! Detailed suggestions forthe skills, experience and knowledge to belooked for in the coordinator are available on

the website. In reality, successful coordinationwill depend on the person having a positiveattitude, confidence, and the ability to learnquickly.

1.4 Steering a partnership The partnership will need a steering groupcomprising members and a chairman orchairwoman (‘Chair’). The partnership Chairwill have a significant influence on how thepartnership works and how successful it is.The Chair will need the ability to deal withpotentially difficult issues and, sometimes,pushy people. Box 5 on page 17 highlightsthe key skills needed for successful Chairsand steering groups.

The role of the steering group is to: ❖ direct the coordinator’s work if he or she is

answerable as an employee to thepartnership;



16

❖ help the coordinator to arrange the eventsthat identify the main issues;

❖ report back to the community on theresults of the healthcheck;

❖ assist in the preparation of the action plan.

The Chair should: ❖ work closely with the coordinator on all

aspects of the healthcheck;

❖ make sure that partnership members areclear about their individual and collectiveroles;

❖ make sure that any working groups havedefined responsibilities and roles;

❖ build consensus among different interestgroups;

❖ oversee regular progress reports.



Box 5 Skills and experiences for effective steering groups

Essential skills and experiences: Chair

❖ Chairing meetings effectively

❖ Being politically astute

❖ Having general knowledge of the private, public and voluntary sectors

❖ Dealing with the media

❖ Negotiating solutions to tensions and conflicts to build consensus

❖ Understanding dynamics of partnerships and steering groups

❖ Appraising performance

❖ Acting independently of local political interests

Desirable skills and knowledge: members of the steering group

❖ Project Management

❖ Financial Management

❖ Promotional skills and dealing with the media

❖ Knowledge of the private, voluntary and public sectors

❖ Working with socially excluded members of the community

❖ Securing funding

❖ Succession planning

❖ Community Development

1.5 Role of working groups These will take on responsibility for tacklingspecific worksheets. The number of workinggroups and their terms of reference will needto flow from the first community event whichidentifies the issues to be looked at, and theinterests and concerns of the partnershipmembers. Most members will have a stronginterest in a particular topic and are likely togravitate to working groups which reflect these.

The role of a working group is to: ❖ address specific issues;

❖ generate community involvement in thehealthcheck;

❖ complete the worksheets;

❖ help report the healthcheck results back tothe wider community;

❖ generate ideas for future action;

❖ research and evaluate those ideas.

1.6 Obtaining specialistadvice

Most towns have people with the relevantskills and experience needed to support thehealthcheck. Members of the partnership, orpeople they know, can fill most of the gaps.Partnerships should look to secure supportfrom professionals working for organisationsin the town or in providing specific services tothe town, such as the district, unitary or



18

county council, tourist board or learning andskills council. Potential sources of advice areillustrated in Figure 5 on page 20. Ideallyadvice and help should be sought as an ‘in-kind’ contribution from these organisations asa sign of commitment to the revitalisationprogramme. However, the reality is that publicsector organisations face constraints on theirstaff time and budgets, and market townpartnerships may need to secure funding to‘buy in’ some professional advice. Supportcould be available from the regionaldevelopment agencies in specific towns.

1.7 Ensuring full communityinvolvement

The partnership will need to consult andinvolve the wider community of the markettown and surrounding countryside in doingthe healthcheck and preparing an action plan.

There are at least four occasions when thecommunity has an important role: ❖ at a community event to establish the main

concerns and opportunities;

❖ taking part in workshops;

❖ taking part in an event to set and agree avision;

❖ support in translating the resulting planinto action.

Widening the partnership offers anopportunity to bring in a broad range ofgroups and individuals to the process. It also provides a way of involving certainorganisations that may not wish to beinvolved in the steering arrangements. Forexample, the district/unitary and countycouncil may consider that they are betterrepresented through membership of the widerpartnership, rather than taking a lead role inthe steering group, which should have astrong community focus. Major employers

and landowners may also be better placed asmembers of the wider partnership rather thanbeing part of the steering group, but thisdepends on local circumstances. Box 6 onpage 21 gives some advice on ways to makethe partnership as inclusive as possible.

When widening the partnership, it will beuseful to decide how wide to draw theboundary of the town’s catchment area inorder to establish the extent of a town’s‘hinterland’. The Introduction covers some ofthe issues relating to hinterlands. Box 7 onpage 21 is a reminder of ways in which thehinterland can be assessed, and thus adecision made about the partnershipboundary. There will be no single obviousboundary except where the coast or otherphysical features create one. Many ruralresidents will use different towns for differentservices, or may well shop in one town forfood, but in another, larger settlement, forclothes or furniture. A sensible boundary willinclude all those places where residentsnaturally look to the town for jobs, goods andservices. It should not be drawn, however, sowidely as to include villages where only a fewpeople are likely to have any real concern forthe future of the town itself. The interests ofpeople from further afield, who visit or work intown, can be represented through surveys(for example, tourism surveys), or by theinvolvement of major employers and schoolsin the partnership.

It can be difficult to establish a singlecatchment area around the town where itoverlaps or includes other market towns. Thismay be a case for considering a widerpartnership to include several towns. Box 8on page 22 gives some advice on how todevelop a partnership to carry out thehealthcheck for more than one town. Thereare already successful multi-town or area-based partnerships.





20

Traffic and transport• County Council

• Highways• Community transport• Rights of Way

• District Council• Traffic management• Parking• Road Safety

• Rural Transport Partnership• Public transport operators• Highways Agency

Economy and employment• Business Link• District Council (economic development)• Local Tourist Board• Chamber of Commerce• Trade Associations

Countryside• Environment Agency• District Council• Wildlife Trust• Groundwork Trust• BTCV• National Farmers Union• FWAG

MARKET TOWN

REGENERATION• Action for Market Towns• Regional Development Agency• Civic Trust• English Historic Towns

Social issues• Rural Community Council• Housing Associations• Religious groups• Local Sports Council• Police• Health Authority• Hospital Trusts• Fire Service• Learning and Skills Council• County Council

• Education• Social services• Health• Library

• District Council• Housing• Leisure

Town centre issues• Town Centre Manager• Association of Town Centre

Management• Street/Shopping Centre Associations• English Heritage• District Council• Town Council

Figure 5: Sources of specialist advice



1.8 Regional market towngroups

Regional forums have been developed inmost of the regions, usually with the supportof the regional development agency. Theyoffer an integrated, strategic resource formarket town revitalisation with the purpose oflinking individual town partnerships with otherpartnerships and with outside agencies (suchas the regional development agency, EnglishHeritage, Business in the Community and

Action for Market Towns). By promotingjoined-up thinking at the regional level, forummembers can share good practice andaccess additional funding. Although theypresent another tier within the regenerationstructure, they do provide a welcomecommon point of reference, advice andsupport. At their best, the regional forums caninfluence stakeholders to direct their ownprogrammes to address the issues identifiedby market towns healthchecks.

Box 6 Making the partnershipinclusive and representative

❖ Invite groups from all ages and sections

of the community to join the

partnership, making sure you involve

‘hard to reach’ and socially excluded

groups such as the elderly, young people,

black and ethnic minority groups,

mental health groups and those with

disabilities.

❖ Seek to involve children and young

adults through:

■ schools, colleges and youth clubs;

■ inviting them to undertake

information collation or vision projects;

■ separate workshops or special events.

❖ Use surveys and questionnaires to

canvass opinion from across the

community, including those who may

not otherwise participate.

❖ Consult widely, using the local media

and through the members of the

partnership.

❖ Specifically engage communities in the

countryside around the town.

Box 7 Deciding on the town’shinterland or catchment area

❖ There will be no single boundary that fits

all services; but you need to decide how

widely to set the limits of the partnership.

❖ Review any shopping, visitor or

employment surveys done by the district

county council or others. Conduct your

own survey of shoppers and visitors, if

necessary.

❖ Ask local employers, and shop and

leisure facility operators where their

workforce or customers live.

❖ Consult the district and county council

planning department, the rural

community council, and town and

parish councils.

❖ Consult local bus and rail operators.

❖ Talk to headteachers, college principals

and the education department.

❖ Consult the local health authority and

GPs.

❖ Decide on a sensible outer boundary for

the partnership, including those rural

communities who should have a real

interest in the future of the town.



22

Box 8 Widening the partnership to include several towns

❖ If the town’s catchment as a shopping or other service centre clearly overlaps with other

nearby towns, there is a good case for a wider partnership.

❖ Similarly, if there are other close links, through jobs, sports, health or education facilities,

there is a good case for a wider partnership.

❖ If one or more nearby towns face the same problems, you may decide that a joint

partnership offers advantages.

❖ Consult the town and parish councils, district and county councils, the rural community

council and the regional development agency to see if there are other practical reasons for a

joint partnership.

❖ Consult nearby towns’ parish or town councils to see if they are interested in a joint

partnership.

But note, an effective single town partnership will be better than a multi-town partnership

whose interests or concerns are too different.




Guisborough

Guisborough, a historic market town of 18,000people sits at the gateway to the North YorkMoors National Park. Prior to the MarketTowns Initiative, the town had missed out onmany funding opportunities that were helpingto regenerate nearby communities, despitesignificant pockets of deprivation within thetown and its hinterland.

Guisborough was selected as one of six townsacross England to pilot the CountrysideAgency’s Market Towns healthcheck prior toits official launch in May 2001. The early dayswere not easy as the fledgling partnershipfollowed an uncharted path with little paidsupport. Nonetheless, local people admirablyrose to the challenge happily describingthemselves as a group of ‘enthusiasticamateurs’.

The healthcheck and action plan took around15 months to complete, the process providinguseful lessons that have since been sharedwith other towns. Since then, the partnershiphas weathered some difficult periods with thesupport of a very capable programmemanager and several members who havesupported the MTI process since the outset.

Press coverage, informative newsletters and acouple of successful open days have helpedto attract new members particularly from therural hinterland.

Project successes include streetscapeimprovements, an events programme,speciality markets, museum improvements,cycling initiatives and feasibility studies fortwo major environmental projects. A smallgrants scheme has proved particularlysuccessful, supporting a range of projects,generating positive publicity and helping togenerate community involvement. Lookingahead, the partnership is investigating thepotential for a Business Improvement District(BID).

Of course challenges remain – notably thelack of resources and funding regimes thatunderestimate the time and level ofprofessional support needed to build localcapacity. The bureaucracy of funders, and theneed to strengthen community ownership andparticipation represent a further challenge.Overall, however, the partnership can be justlyproud of its achievements!



24


Networking by Market Townpartnerships in Gloucestershire

The Gloucestershire Market Towns Forum isan independent network of representativesfrom the County's rural towns, parishes andcommunity organisations. Twenty-two townsare involved. Established in 1995, the forum iscore-funded through the South West RegionalDevelopment Agency, and the GloucestershireRural Community Council. It provides anetworking forum that allows organisations toexchange ideas and support each other.

The forum has produced a ‘community toolkit’providing guidance to communities aboutgetting projects off the ground and sustainingthem in the longer term. The forum, which hasEuropean, national and regional links alsoassists with:

❖ identifying and helping to secure externalfunding;

❖ providing key resources, equipment, skillsand professional expertise;

❖ training in personal and committee skills.

Contents

Purpose ❖ To make people in the town and

surrounding countryside understand fully,take ownership of and become involved inthe healthcheck.

❖ To map out the main issues of concern tothe community.

The partnership needs to embrace theconcerns of the community. These concernswill guide the way in which the healthcheckworksheets are answered and may form thepriorities for the vision and action plan.Answering the worksheets will help confirm orchallenge the issues.

2.1 Arranging a communityevent to establish theissues

One way to establish the issues is for thecoordinator to arrange an evening or half-dayevent on behalf of the partnership. Thisshould involve the whole community,including any interested organisations and thegeneral public of the town and surroundingcountryside. There are lots of ways ofworking to establish the issues and the bestmethod will depend on the audience. Anumber of models for running a communityevent are given in the CommunityParticipation Directory. If the partnership hasnot appointed a coordinator, it can select oneor a number of its members to arrange theevent. The partnership will need to poolresources in terms of administrative support,advertising, printing, and in providing a venuefor the event.

The partnership should seek a facilitator withrelevant experience and skills to help run theevent. It is important that the facilitator issomeone who is, and is seen to be, objective.There are a number of professionalfacilitators who could be employed directly byone or a group of partnerships. The district,unitary or rural community council may havein-house community development workerswho could fulfil this role.

An event to establish the community’sconcerns also allows existing groups andprojects to explain what they have been doingto a wider audience. The event can highlightspecific concerns that should be givenparticular attention during the healthcheck.Long-standing issues and disagreements willinevitably be raised, but it is important to holdan event that draws people and organisationsinto the partnership and helps them torecognise the potential benefits of examininga wide range of topics in the healthcheck

2.2 Holding a communityevent

At the start of the event the coordinator orchairman of the steering group should: ❖ set out what the town can gain from doing

a healthcheck and preparing an actionplan, and also explain the main stages inthe process;

❖ give a brief description of the town andsurrounding rural area;

❖ discuss what initiatives are already underway.



The independent facilitator should:❖ lead a discussion on the main problems

and opportunities facing the area;

❖ sum up the areas of agreement andhighlight the issues.

During the event the facilitator can open upthe discussion to involve everyone in a‘brainstorming’ session on what people’saspirations are for their community in theshort, medium and long term. It can help torelate this discussion to a specific time in thefuture; for example: What do you want thistown to be like in ten or fifteen years’ time?and What is standing in the way of success?

The brainstorming session can either be doneas an ‘open floor’ exercise or during smallerworkshops where results are reported back tothe whole meeting. The exercise should allowpeople to identify the strengths and

weaknesses of the town, and theopportunities and threats facing the town (a‘SWOT analysis’), and to voice their opinionson how they would like the town to evolve.

Workshops can also be arranged to tease outthe main issues for the healthcheck andaction plan. These workshops could beorganised around the four main worksheetheadings: environment, economy, social andcommunity issues, transport and accessibility.The main findings of each workshop shouldbe fed back to the whole community foragreement on what are the main issues forthe action plan. The recorded outcomes ofthe event will assist in deciding the scope ofthe work to be undertaken on thehealthcheck. The partnership may also wishto review whether it needs to bring in anynew partners to cover new issues that haveemerged during the event.


Gaining community commitment

26




Penistone – a ‘charette’ in action

A ‘charette’ is an effective, highly interactive,community-based planning tool. By workingthrough an impartial team of experts whichlistens to the views of the community, it hasthe unique advantage of giving bothimmediate feedback and ownership to allparticipants. Within an accelerated timeframe,a full range of issues, community concernsand alternatives can be researched anddiscussed.

In Penistone near Barnsley in South Yorkshire,six ‘experts in their field’ were invited to run acharette as part of the Countryside Agencyand regional development agency’s supportfor the town through the Market TownsInitiative. The experts came fromorganisations such as the Countryside Agencyand the Rural Community Council, andincluded a consultant with rural experienceand a qualified planner.

The team worked in Penistone for three days.Its purpose was to provide the community withnew ideas, reflections and insights on threekey themes identified by the local communityin preparation for carrying out a healthcheckand preparing an action plan. An intensiveschedule, which included tours of the town andmeetings with local groups, was drawn up.

The three key themes were:

1 What role does the rural hinterland ofPenistone have to play in the future of thetown? What are the issues facing agricultureand tourism in particular, and how can ruralcommunities be effectively engaged inplanning for the future development ofPenistone as a service centre?

2 How can the young people of Penistonehave their say in developing the town?What are the barriers to effectiveparticipation at present and how may theybe overcome?

3 How can the town centre be made a moreattractive and vibrant place for visitors andresidents alike? What are the majorstructural issues currently restricting thetown from being a vital centre for thewestern wards of Barnsley Borough?

The charette provided an opportunity for ateam of people unfamiliar with the area to castan educated, experienced eye over ‘oldproblems’, without ‘baggage’, and to draw upontheir expertise to identify new ways forward. Itreached out to many people in a short space oftime and helped raise the profile of the town.The charette team produced a report of theirvisit which, along with the results of a localPlanning for Real exercise, will feed into thehealthcheck and action plan.

The experience in Penistone demonstratesthat a charette team works best where it has:

❖ an agenda which allows its members tomeet and talk with as many people aspossible, while familiarising themselveswith the town;

❖ an ability to change the agenda withinreason as it sees fit;

❖ a dedicated local coordinating/steeringcommittee to make local arrangements;

❖ time to think, reflect and discuss as a teamwhat has been seen and heard;

❖ sufficient information in advance, sufficientteam members and enough time to tacklethe issues – it is recommended that priorplanning of three months minimum willachieve the best results.



28


The Ramsey Area Partnership

From its inception the Ramsey AreaPartnership has striven for inclusiveness. Itspartnership board is made up ofrepresentatives from public, private, voluntaryand community sectors. A visioning event heldby the Civic Trust in 2002, highlighted thegood work already under way, but also theneed to establish a partnership reflective ofthe local communities, both in the town andthe hinterland.

In 2003, the Ramsey Area Partnership wasformed and decided to undertake a MarketTowns healthcheck, using funding provided bythe East of England Development Agency viaAction for Market Towns. The partnership feltthe healthcheck process would provide aframework by which Ramsey, and itsdependent rural communities, could decide onhow the area should be regenerated in thefuture for the positive benefit for all.

The partnership undertook a substantialprogramme to engage their communities in theprocess using a wide range of techniquesincluding a forum event, a communityquestionnaire, a highly interactive campaignand a business survey.

The forum event brought together keyindividuals, groups and organisations who hadhelped bring the Ramsey Area Partnershiptogether. Through workshops at this event theviews of the partners were gathered. Thequestionnaire was designed to collect theviews of a larger sample, to find out thereasons why people currently visited Ramsey,problems and improvements they wouldsuggest, their use of amenities and ratings ofthe services available and also theiraccessibility.

The campaign called Make a Differenceencouraged more active participation, with theemphasis placed on the involvement of youngpeople to ensure this group was represented.Events included a junior school photographproject, poster design, graffiti board,discussion groups, youth council participation,a Girl Guides project and ‘Big Brother ’ diaryroom event. In addition to the 200 youngpeople who attended specific events, all11–18 year olds at the two local schools wereinvolved in some way.

Contents

Purpose❖ To draw together a ‘snapshot’ of the town

and surrounding countryside.

❖ To undertake the questions in theworksheets to help identify strengths andweaknesses.

❖ To draw together the results in a report, inpreparation for creating a vision anddrawing up an action plan.

The healthcheck consists of questions thatcover those aspects that affect people’squality of life in a market town andsurrounding countryside (the town’s‘hinterland’). It starts with a factual ‘snapshot’of the market town and continues withworksheets covering four main topic areas:environment; economy; social and communityissues; and transport and accessibility. Thesnapshot and the worksheets can bedownloaded from the website.

3.1 ‘Snapshot’ of the townand surroundingcountryside

The purpose of this exercise is to provide a‘snapshot’ of the town and surroundingcountryside which will help answer thequestions in the worksheets. Factualinformation about existing services, facilitiesand so on will provide a background that canbe balanced with the community’s aspirationswhich emerge from the worksheets.

The coordinator should be able to collect andcollate the basic information about the townand surrounding countryside from publishedinformation, reports and other studies

compiled by the district council and otherorganisations. The working groups may alsoplay a part in gathering the information.Advice on existing information and datasources is given in the Data Sources andSurvey Methods Directory.

Most of the facts are easily available, or canbe collected, for individual market towns.They may be less easy to obtain for the ruralhinterland or catchment area. The priorityshould be to collect them for the town itself.

3.2 Answering theworksheets

The worksheets have been designed to actas a practical checklist covering the topicareas of:❖ the environment;

❖ the economy;

❖ social and community issues;

❖ transport and accessibility.

They are intended to be as objective aspossible but will reflect the extent ofcommunity aspirations, concerns andpriorities. Though presented as ‘tasks’, theyare not meant to be prescriptive or onerous.They are merely guides to establishingobjective and factual information about thearea. It is perfectly acceptable to amend themor come up with additional questions thataddress local concerns. What is mostimportant is that the evaluation of theworksheets will reflect people’s aspirations,concerns and priorities. The results should bedrawn together in a vision for the market townand surrounding countryside to form the basisfor an action plan.



The steering group, aided by the coordinator,will need to decide who takes responsibilityfor answering the worksheets. The topic-based working groups would berecommended. Priorities and a timetable forthe healthcheck will need to be agreed,based on the concerns identified at thecommunity event. It is important to secure abroad and representative understanding ofthe issues and concerns of the community.

The district or unitary council, or a localgroup, may have recently carried out acommunity attitudes or shopping survey.These can give a representative picture ofhow people use the town and its facilities,and, perhaps more importantly, show theirattitudes to existing problems and futureopportunities. Take into account theimplications of any special attributes of thetown, for example, a coastal town.

3.3 The structure of theworksheets

The worksheets are given as individualsheets for each topic area. The sheets can becopied and used by individuals and groups inthe community. Figure 6 on page 31 showshow the worksheets are structured. Eachworksheet has: 1 a short definition of the task and an

introduction to the task;

2 preliminary or ‘fact-finding’ questions. Thequestions are written into a table that hasthree columns headed:

❖ Starting points for information: thislists some sources from which you mightget information to answer each question.

❖ Information you will need: this iswhere the questions are listed.

❖ Answers and notes: a blank columnwhere the answers to the questions canbe written.

3 concluding or analytical questions. Theinformation you get by answering thepreliminary questions will enable you toanswer these ‘So what …?’ questions.This section of the worksheet is where theimplications of the answers to thepreliminary questions get drawn out. It canalso be used to help to start makingconnections between the conclusions fromdifferent worksheets.

The section is a table with three majorheadings:

❖ You need to consider what theinformation you have gathered tellsyou. In this column are questions on thekey themes that the preliminaryquestions provide answers about. Asthemes from one worksheet are likely tobe common to others, it will be possibleto use these shared themes to drawconclusions from the whole set ofworksheets.

❖ Write your answers here. Base themon the information you havegathered. This column is where asummary of the answers to thequestions can be written in.

❖ Conclusion. This section is split into sixsub-headings: It’s a fact; Strength;Weakness; Opportunity; Threat; Moreinfo. needed. These columns only requireticking.

This technique will make it easy to completea SWOT analysis based on the whole set ofworksheets. It also flags up where the needto plug gaps in information can be written into the action plan. Box 9 on page 32 givesmore information about SWOT analysis.


Completing a healthcheck

30



Figure 6: The structure of the worksheets

WORKSHEET TITLE

Definition of the task in 1 or 2 short sentences.

1: Short introduction to the task

2: Getting the following information will … (short text referring to the task)

3: This part is called a SWOT analysis, where you identify Strengths, Weaknesses,Opportunities and Threats. Once you have the information, use the tickboxes in thistable to show the Strengths and Weaknesses. Also flag up where there areOpportunities to improve things, or where there might be Threats in the future. Theconclusions give the basis for a summary that can go forward to the HealtcheckReport.

You may need to tick more than one column for each question.This technique will make it easy to complete a SWOT analysis based on the whole set ofworksheets. It also flags up where the need to plug gaps in information can be written intothe action plan.

ConclusionWrite your answershere. Base them on theinformation you havegathered.

Where a summary of theanswers to the questionscan be written in

You need toconsider what theinformation youhave gathered tellsyou in the light ofthese questions:

Questions about thekey themes of theworksheet

Answers and notes

This is where you can write youranswers to each question

Information you willneed

This is where thequestions are listed

Starting pointsfor information

Sources forinformation

It’s

a fa

ct

Str

engt

h

Wea

knes

ses

Opp

ortu

nity

Thr

eat

Nee

ed m

ore

time



32

Basic information is likely to be available frompublished sources, reports and other studies.The district or unitary council may have alreadyundertaken studies on one or more of the mainissues, and may be able to provide assistanceto working groups. In some instances, newsurveys may be necessary. Advice on existinginformation and data sources, and on surveymethods (ranging from traffic counts totownscape appraisals), is given in the DataSources and Survey Methods Directory.

In summary, the process for getting answersto worksheet questions is:❖ Establish what information is available:

each worksheet has suggestions aboutwhere to look.

❖ Work out where there are gaps in theinformation you need.

❖ Find out what are the sources that couldfill the information gaps.

❖ Agree who will have responsibility forcompleting the worksheets.

❖ Set a timetable for completing theworksheets.

The emphasis, however, is on thecommunity’s aspirations for the town and itssurrounding countryside. It is this which willhelp form the vision. It is essential that thequestions from each of the four main sectionsare answered. The healthcheck is designedto join up economic, social and environmentalmatters. It should not focus on one issue atthe expense of others.

It is also important that communities in thesurrounding countryside have their say.Make sure that the surrounding countryside isconsidered in relation to each topic andquestion and consider establishing a separateworking group to look at the links between thetown and its rural hinterland.

Box 9 SWOT Analysis

To help you answer the ‘So what…?’ questions, the final part of the worksheets is in the form

of a table that enables you to undertake a simple SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis identifies

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Strengths are things about the town that are good, beneficial or exceptional. Weaknesses are

things about the town that are considered poor, undeveloped or missing. Strengths and

Weaknesses refer to the present and should refer just to the town and its hinterland.

Opportunities and Threats refer to the future. Opportunities means ‘opportunities to improve,

get better, excel’, Threats means ‘things that could make the current situation worse, or prevent

things getting better’. Opportunities and Threats need to be considered by reference to

influences and developments that are external to the town and its hinterland. Often, of course,

the town’s Strengths in the present provide the basis for exploiting Opportunities in the future.

On the other hand, any Weaknesses in the present can become Threats to the future wellbeing

of the town if you don’t act to counter the Weaknesses.

The SWOT table includes tickboxes to show the Strengths and Weaknesses of the town that are

highlighted within the remit of each worksheet topic, and allows you to flag up where there are

Opportunities to improve things or where there might be Threats in the future. The conclusions

about the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats give the basis for a summary that

can go forward to the Healthcheck Report and Action Plan.

3.4 Drawing the resultstogether

The coordinator, or a small number ofsteering group members, will need to drawtogether the answers to the worksheets in areport.

The results of the healthcheck will includedifferent types of information: ❖ Basic facts, for example changes in

numbers of local jobs, and the availabilityand use of particular services.

❖ Information collected through organisedsurveys; for example, the condition ofbuildings.

❖ Qualitative information about thecommunities’ attitudes and aspirations.

❖ Other interpretation and assessments byindividual working groups.

The results should highlight problems oropportunities that should be acted upon. Forexample, the results of the work on housingmay show that there is insufficient existinginformation and that a more detailed surveyof future housing requirements needs to beundertaken. Alternatively, the analysis relatingto education and training may indicate a needfor locally-based information technologytraining so that residents can gain jobs intown.

There will inevitably be inconsistencies anddifferences of opinion. These may well beaddressing related or overlapping issues, buttaken from different perspectives. To give twoobvious examples:

The town centre working group may concludethat free parking is critical to the future oflocal shops, while the transport groupadvocates stringent parking controls to easecongestion and traffic flow.

The recorded incidence of crime may be verylow, but this rarely matches residents’ fear ofcrime, which is particularly articulated throughcommunity appraisals. Both the actualstatistics and residents’ perceptions arelegitimate issues which may need to beexplored further in the action plan.

Differences of opinion will need to beexplored and resolved as part of the processof completing the healthcheck. This can bedone by:❖ distributing a draft of the results to all

members of the partnership and toindividuals, requesting written responsesexpressing their views and othercomments;

❖ holding an event at which all members ofthe partnership and invited members of thecommunity attend. An independentfacilitator will be able to work throughconflicting issues, and the specialistadvisors can provide advice on appropriateaction which resolves inconsistencies anddifferences.

The results of the healthcheck should bewritten up in a report to provide:❖ information from which to develop the

vision and action plan;

❖ information for any future funding bid;

❖ a record of what has been found out;

❖ a basis for monitoring and comparingtowns with other towns – a process called‘benchmarking’.



A suggested format for reporting the results isshown in Figure 7 on page 35. It is importantthat the report identifies who has beeninvolved. You can do this under the headingsof ‘Partners’ and ‘Towns/communities’. Thereshould be a record of what happened duringthe healthcheck under a heading such as‘Events/surveys undertaken’. Key statisticsshould also be highlighted somewhere in thereport.

This format includes a‘healthcheck links structure’matrix that enables you to cross-reference any issues that relateprincipally to one topic area tothe other three topic areas. Thecross-referencing is importantbecause you need to know aboutpossible knock-on effects forother topic areas, and you willneed to assess whether theseare likely to be positive ornegative effects. For example,seizing an opportunity to developa brownfield site for newbusiness start-up units wouldhave negative consequences andtherefore be a threat toenvironmental quality if the site isan important wildlife habitat.

By means of this matrix, you canstart to see: ❖ where possible conflicts may

arise between the prioritiesthat the working groupsidentify for each of the fourtopic areas;

❖ what the issues are that couldbring some disbenefits unlessthey are addressed sensitivelyin an action plan;

❖ what the issues are that cut across theseparate topic areas and are thereforemost likely to bring most all round benefit ifthey are addressed in an action plan.

The healthcheck report should be madewidely available and preferably at no cost tothe community. It should form the basis ofestablishing a vision for the town andsurrounding countryside.



34



Partners

Towns/communities involved

Events/surveys undertaken

Key statistics about the town and hinterland

Healthcheck SWOT

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Environmental

Economic

Social and community

Transport and accessibility

Healthcheck links structure

Environmental Economic Social and Transport andcommunity accessibility

Environmental

Economic

Social and community

Transport and accessibility

Key findings and gaps in available information

Figure 7: Healthcheck report format



36


Regenerating Todmorden

When the community of Todmorden carried outa healthcheck of the town’s strengths andweaknesses, residents were particularlyconcerned about the state of the town centre,which had many derelict buildings andnumerous shabby ‘green spaces’.Furthermore, the town’s busy market, whichhas drawn people in from surrounding ruralareas for over 200 years, was in desperateneed of renewal.

Some 30 regeneration projects are now beingfunded through the market towns initiative inTodmorden. These include demolishing andlandscaping dilapidated buildings andconverting some of the town’s historicbuildings for business and residential use.

The Initiative has breathed new life into thetown and the local community are keen to do

everything possible to attract new investmentand create employment opportunities. TheInitiative has been the catalyst to make thathappen with the first step to make the town amore attractive place in which to live andwork.

An ambitious scheme to transform the town’smarket is also under way. £500,000 is beingspent on new facilities, including stalls andpublic toilets. The refurbishment will help toensure the market’s continued success, and isbeing welcomed by traders, shoppers and allthose who depend on Todmorden as a vibrantservice centre for the surrounding area.

Work is also about to start on improving thetown’s railway station, creating a newentrance area and station façade, pedestrianwalkways and better lighting. Funded throughthe Initiative, the £100,000 refurbishment willmake the station a more attractive and saferplace to use, increasing access for residentsand encouraging local people to usesustainable transport.

Contents

Purpose❖ To work with the community to create a

vision for the town and surroundingcountryside based on the healthcheck.

The results of the healthcheck need to beevaluated to create a vision for the town andsurrounding countryside. It is important to setout clearly what the community wants, basedsoundly on the knowledge obtained from theworksheets. The vision should be expressedclearly to describe what is needed and whatwill be done. From this vision, ideas will flowwhich will develop into an action plan that willbe used to guide and plot progress.

4.1 Why the vision isimportant

A vision statement is a message of intent.The crew in Star Trek aspired to ‘Boldlygo …’; Tina Turner wanted to be ‘Simply theBest’; IBM wanted ‘To provide the bestservice of any firm in the world’. If written inclear and unambiguous terms, which mostpeople can understand, a market town’svision statement is the concept around whichlocal support will be built.

The vision will show how to address theissues identified through community eventsand the other consultation and enquiryprocesses (such as the worksheets) that havehelped develop aspirations for the future.Market towns must set themselves clear,powerful and understandable visions – that is,ones that are achievable, that can bemeasured and that are sustainable and opento developmental change. Box 10 gives anon-specific example of a vision for a market

town and Box 11 on page 38 summarises theimportance of the vision to the healthcheck.

4.2 Holding a communityevent to establish thevision

An event should be arranged by thecoordinator on behalf of the steering groupand with the help of an independentfacilitator. The event should be run in a waywhich people of different abilities andbackgrounds will find easy and enjoyable totake part in. It should aim to unite thepartnership and encourage them to worktowards the shared vision. The event willreflect the ambition of the partnership.

4 Creating a vision


Box 10 A market town’s vision

(example)

❖ We will provide a good quality of life

for those who want to live, work and

take leisure in the town.

❖ We will build a lively town, with

sustainable communities and a mix of

interesting and inviting opportunities

for visitors.

❖ We will provide a thriving business

environment and attract inward

investment.

❖ We will make positive use of our proud

heritage and buildings.

The programmes and projects of our

action plan will flow from this vision.

Inconsistencies and differences of opinionmay remain, but it will be important to sharethe vision with all the interested parties and toensure that it accurately represents agreedaspirations, aims and objectives.

At the event, the following should beconsidered: ❖ Issues identified in the first community

event including the links between issuesidentified both for the town and itssurrounding countryside.

❖ The results of the healthcheck.

❖ The objectives and priorities of partnershipmembers.

❖ The capabilities and resources available toand through the partnership.

❖ How agreement can be reached.

There is a positive role for all – professionals,specialists or the generally interested – tohelp to provide advice on action to deal withspecific issues and to explore links betweenissues.

4.3 Reporting on the visionThe coordinator or another designatedmember of the partnership should drawtogether the vision as a written statement.The statement should be ambitious, butpractical and realistic. Ideally the vision needsto inspire local people and those from otherorganisations.

The vision should set out strategic objectives.This is often necessary because success maydepend on any number of economic, socialand environmental factors. Expressing the


Creating a vision

38

Box 11 Why creating a vision is essential

❖ A vision presents a vivid image for the community and partners of a sustainable and planned

future.

❖ A vision can be embraced by the community and understood by partners – this is

particularly important for partners who may also be funders.

❖ A vision is a clear and recognisable perception in the mind’s eye.

❖ A vision sets out in a few words where the town wants to go.

❖ A vision will help to identify any key problems that the area may have.

The vision must indicate the direction towards a sustainable future; it does not want to be aquick fix that will not endure. Similarly, it may be necessary to revisit the vision from time totime.

When creating its vision, people in the market town should ask:

❖ How do we make the links between physical developments and the economic regeneration

required to assist the town, and also the people in it who may otherwise be excluded?

❖ How do we link into the national and regional frameworks and policies, such as those that

determine incoming investment?

❖ How do we link our short-term market town plans into longer-term government plans, such

as Rural and Urban Renaissance?

vision in terms of practical objectives willenable it to be understood by all involved.This in turn will make it easier to identify whatneeds to be done to achieve the vision.

It is important, therefore, to be realistic inestablishing the objectives and priorities ofthe partnership according to the capabilitiesand resources that are available within thepartnership. Some towns and cities havedeveloped visions that are too ambiguous,using expressions such as ‘… become adynamic and competitive location ...’ and‘reputation for excellence will be focused onleisure, culture and the arts, retailing, housingand entrepreneurial activities ...’. Be wary,also, of terms such as ‘Objectives’, ‘Goals’and ‘Targets’, which can come over asgovernment-speak and alienate somecommunities.

A good way of reporting on the vision is tohave a follow-up event at which key membersof the partnership present a section of thevision. Smaller workshops will allowindividuals to have their views on the visionas presented and on any amendments thatshould be integrated. A road show willengage the usually more excluded membersof the community.

4.4 The visioning challengeIt can be easy for partnerships to becomeconfused in the process of developing avision. Individuals and organisations mayhave strong views of how the town shoulddevelop. Their views may be based onprofessional skills, experience or personalhobbyhorses. Whatever they are based on,such people’s visions may be appropriate andmust not be lost, provided that the rest of thecommunity has had the opportunity to haveits say.

Aiming to set a vision based solely on the

facts revealed by the worksheets couldproduce a dull list of aspirations. It may notbe sufficiently exciting to grasp theimagination of local people and partners.

Community Planning days may not besufficient to gather local views in a coherentmanner, or to give as many people aspossible the opportunity to be included. Inthat case, a road show that visits schools,libraries, older persons’ accommodation,public houses and markets may be needed.The partnership should also work to ensurethat there is widespread media coverage ofthe proposals.

Ambassadors for the partnership – membersof the working groups, for example – shouldtour the town and gather local viewpoints andencourage participation.

Whatever the process by which the vision iscreated, it must:❖ recognise that the area is affected by the

past, by specific problems now, by theviews of local people, and by what localassets and wider resources are available;

❖ target economic development, create jobs,guarantee training, and ensure that thereis access to wider labour markets;

❖ seek to create links between all levels ofgovernment and attract resources to thetown;

❖ strengthen communities and communityorganisations and bring residents to thecentre of regeneration initiatives.


Creating a vision


Creating a vision

40

4.5 How the vision fits intothe healthcheck process

As a result of the visioning process, a clearplan for the town can start to emerge in theform of a draft action plan with projectproposals that will illustrate the viability of thevision. This plan is likely to include somesmall-scale changes (such as providing morelitter bins), some methods of working together(for example, by competing in Britain inBloom), as well as more significantprogrammes (such as attracting majoremployers), and identifying means ofinfluencing key agencies (such as transport).

The local community will have had theopportunity to engage with the partnershipand views will have been heard andintegrated. The drawing up of programmes in

response to the vision and the subsequentprojects will bring reality to the process.The ‘quick wins’ will gather more support fromthe community, and give a sense ofachievability. The local media will be engagedin the regeneration process and will becomeeager to represent the good news stories.

The partnership will be able to test out itsown dynamics as administrative systemsbecome developed. The commitment ofpartners and funding agencies will beinvestigated and opportunity given for minorchanges to the action plan to satisfy theneeds of others. Partner agencies will start toidentify the means by which they can worktogether to deliver a ‘joined up’ approach andhow the partnership can bring ‘added value’to mainstream services.


Creating a vision


How Shipston on Stour achievedits vision:

The Stour Power Vision

No specific visioning day was held in Shipstonon Stour. Opportunities were taken instead togather views from a series of events held bythe Stour Power Partnership. These includedseveral themed workshops with keystakeholders, and individual presentations anddiscussions with key business and communityleaders and groups.

These events were followed by an opencommunity event to present the initial findingsof the healthcheck. Views were sought on thekey issues through informal discussion withpartners, questionnaires were handed out andcompleted at the event, and an open forumknown as the ‘hall of fame’ was set up wherevisitors were invited to submit comments onthe display boards using sticky notes. Theopen community event was followed up by a

subsequent event to seek views on initialideas for potential projects.

In addition to this, a web-based discussionforum was installed as part of the town’ssoftware. The forum generated more than 80comments from individuals regarding thehealthcheck.

While ‘informing’ is a key objective of thehealthcheck process, facilitating ‘opportunitiesto comment’ around the development of thevision and the action plan was also vital toensure that all ‘stakeholders’ buy into theprocess.

The name ‘Stour Power ’, supported by thestatement ‘Shaping Tomorrow Together ’, wasadopted by the steering group to be inclusiveof the villages and hamlets in the ruralhinterland, as well as the market town itself.

A strong image was created by a professionaldesign agency and applied to all publicitymaterial for the initial information, consultationand public participation exercises.


Creating a vision

42

Contents

Purpose❖ To prepare an action plan to achieve the

objectives agreed in the vision.

❖ To secure community support for theaction plan.

The action plan demonstrates how the visioncan be achieved. It may be used to: ❖ market the town;

❖ disseminate information to local people,organisations and visitors;

❖ attract funding and support;

❖ set out the aims, objectives and actions ofthe partnership;

❖ coordinate specific actions, and feed intoother existing or proposed ventures;

❖ provide a detailed framework formonitoring and review by funding bodiesensuring that assistance is being targetedto meet the strategic objectives.

Some principles for preparing the plan aregiven in Box 12 on page 44.

5.1 Format of an action plan The action plan may be drawn together bythe coordinator on behalf of the partnershipand its steering group. Different parts may beproduced by the working groups. There is no‘correct’ way to prepare an action plan. Eachone will be different in terms of the problems,issues, aspirations and remedial measuresrelevant to a town and surroundingcountryside. The advice set out here is notmeant to be prescriptive. Rather, it isintended as a guide to elements that an

action plan could contain. The suggestedcomponents of an action plan are shown inFigure 8 on pages 44–45.

Equally, there is no standard way in which tostructure an action plan. However, it shouldgive information on the vision, objectives andaction and be:❖ clear and concise;

❖ easy to read and understand;

❖ widely available;

❖ illustrated and not overburdened with text;

❖ simple to update.

As the action plan may have to serve anumber of purposes for a variety ofaudiences, it may be best to prepare a fulldocument plus a brief summary. The fulldocument should set out the vision, strategicobjectives and project details, along withrelevant data, in sufficient detail for fundingbodies to review and monitor progress on aregular basis. The summary should give themain information and should be used forgeneral distribution and promotion.

Overall, the action plan should set out who isresponsible for taking action and thetimescales for achieving these actions.Identifying targets provides a means ofreviewing progress and determining whetherobjectives are being achieved.

A structure for listing actions is in Figure 9 onpage 48. Preparing an action plan involves: ❖ taking the vision into account;

❖ identifying available resources;

❖ identifying priorities for action;

❖ monitoring and evaluation.



Not every plan will look the same or contain thesame information in the same level of detail buta good action plan will contain all or most of thefollowing:

Description of the market town and itssurrounding countryside The action plan should contain a description of: ❖ the geographical area involved; ❖ the main characteristics and features of both

the town and its surrounding countryside(these should be in the snapshot);

❖ details of existing projects and initiativeswhich contribute to the regeneration of thearea.

The partnership The action plan should identify: ❖ who ‘owns’ the plan, in other words did the

partnership write the plan and does itrepresent the agreed views of communitiesin the town and surrounding countryside?

❖ the membership of the partnership, includingthe chair and steering group;

❖ working groups with their membership andremit;

❖ the general composition of the widerconsultation group and how they wereinvolved;

❖ how the partnership and working groupsoperate, e.g. accountabilities, remit, reportingand communication methods;

❖ details of the employing body for any staff; ❖ contact details for the main contact(s) in the

partnership.

The healthcheck The action plan should contain: ❖ reference to the healthcheck report in the

main body of the plan, plus the reportattached as an annex or details of where itcan be obtained;

❖ details of how the healthcheck was carriedout, including community participation, datagathering and how the vision was agreed.


Preparing an action plan

44

Figure 8: Suggested contents for an action plan

Box 12 Preparing the actionplan

The action plan is the key tool in achieving

the market town’s vision which has been

developed from the healthcheck. The

following points should be taken into

consideration.

❖ The process of preparing the action

plan is as open and transparent as

possible.

❖ Those involved should be proactive in

seeking to involve as many local people

and relevant organisations as possible.

❖ Meetings should all be open to the

public, and the information generated

be publicly available.

❖ You should make the fullest use of

locally available expertise, facilities

and support wherever possible.

❖ Be respectful (yet be pragmatic) to

existing regeneration projects and

initiatives in the area and how the

action plan complements these.

❖ Make use of existing relevant studies

and information wherever possible.

❖ Nurture the interest and vitality already

present in the area and build upon it

with a long-term perspective.

❖ The action plan should not be rigid;

rather, it should be flexible enough to

respond to changing requirements.

❖ Be innovative yet practical.

❖ Set out clear goals, objectives and steps

or actions to achieve the vision.

The vision The action plan should: ❖ describe the vision for the market town and its

hinterland, e.g. as a SWOT analysis;❖ set out long-, medium- and short-term aims; ❖ endorse the vision as a coherent and guiding

feature of the plan.

Aims and objectives The action plan should clearly state what thepartnership will do to achieve the visionincluding: ❖ how the partnership will identify local

challenges, needs and problems; ❖ how the aims of the partnership link in with

other strategic statements and policydocuments for the local and regional area,e.g. the local development plan and regionaleconomic strategy.

Activities The action plan should specify activities todeliver each objective. These activities shouldinclude: ❖ actions or tasks;❖ milestones, timescales and targets;❖ outputs (i.e. what the physical or immediate

result is) and outcomes (i.e. what effect thisresult will have). For example, improving thebus service between a village and the town isan output; making it easier for more people tovisit the town to shop or access services suchas banks and the post office is an outcome;

❖ estimated/accurate costs for each activityproposed;

❖ details of the lead body for each activity;❖ sources of matching funds; ❖ priorities, especially in relation to existing or

competing demands on local resources. Thepriorities should be assessed for the short,medium and long term.

One test of a good action plan is whether eachof the proposed actions is SMART, where:S means specificM means measurableA means achievableR means realisticT means timed – or time-limited.

All your actions should pass the SMART test.

Threats, risks and realism The action plan should: ❖ think ahead to any factors that might threaten

the delivery of the plan and suggest howthese might be overcome.

Judging success The action plan should be reviewed atappropriate intervals. Consider: ❖ who will ensure that the aims and objectives

are achieved;❖ how communities in the town and surrounding

hinterland will consider whether the plan hassuccessfully improved the quality of life;

❖ if there are towns nearby with which tocompare progress;

❖ what plans are there for ongoing communityinvolvement in the delivery of the plan;

❖ when the plan will be reviewed again.



5.2 Taking the vision intoaccount

The action plan should start with thestatement of the vision and strategicobjectives. All actions and projects shouldrelate to these needs.

5.3 Identifying availableresources

There is a need to explore possible sourcesof funding. It will be important to examine: ❖ the resources available among the

partners to help with the production andimplementation of the action plan;

❖ the resources available from national,regional and local bodies;

❖ potential revitalisation projects;

❖ potential resources attainable throughother means of fund-raising, or alternativesources of help in the form of equipmentor specialist advice.

The town and surrounding countryside mayalso have resources that are not used to theirfullest extent, or have opportunities to providenew resources. Examples include: vacantland or buildings; areas of high landscape orwildlife value which are currently little visited;business groups not used to full advantage;untapped potential in the form of voluntarygroups; or unemployed and retired peoplewith skills.

5.4 Identifying priorities foraction

The partnership should decide on the mainareas it intends to address through the actionplan, for example physical or environmentalquality, tourism, business, leisure, and, ifappropriate, the geographical areas to target.

A programme of actions for eachgeographical area could be established. Sucha programme should tie in with the overallstrategic objectives.

Given that resources are unlikely to besufficient to cover each issue or area in anequitable way, and that it will be important toaddress some earlier than others, thepartnership should give each action a priority.It will be necessary to rank these prioritiesaccording to the extent to which each isrequired, how much each is supported bylocal people, and in terms of the resourcesavailable to achieve them. It may benecessary to focus on only two or three topicsor geographical areas in the short term. Suchdecisions should receive the full support ofthe partnership.

The partnership should generate and reviewsuggestions for projects that will deliver theoverall vision and strategic objectives. Thesewill be expressed as a series of actions andcould include long-term activities as well asshort- to medium-term measures that willcontribute to meeting the overall aims. Theactions may be ‘bricks-and-mortar’ projects orones that relate to ‘softer’ ventures such astraining.

Each project will need to be fully exploredand developed into a viable proposition thatrelates to the strategic objectives in thevision. It is especially important to identifyinitiatives that offer the prospect of providingthe partnership with some ‘quick wins’. Eachproposal should be clearly identified in termsof its nature, expected outputs, costs, who isresponsible for implementation, and thetimescale for completion.

The level of detail given in the action plandepends on local circumstances. Thepartnership may be asked to work up detailedbids or action plans for specific partners or



46

specific projects that are mentioned in theaction plan. The action plan can be anumbrella document for these. However, aspecific bid document or plan, such as adelivery plan for a regional developmentagency, does not replace a market townaction plan.

Other programmes, plans and initiatives,which may have a positive relationship withthe action plan, should be clearly identifiedand arrangements for coordinationestablished to achieve common goals. Howthe action plan relates to other strategies andplans (for example, the development plan),needs to be clear and will save duplication ofeffort. The partnership should seek to sign upthe organisations responsible for specificprojects to the action plan.

It will be important to regularly monitor theimpact and effectiveness of actions todetermine the extent to which objectives arebeing met and to review the vision and actionplan accordingly. This is addressed more fullyin the next section.



Figure 9: Action plan structure

Topic Action Strategic Priority Who’s How When Target Progressobjectives responsible to be

monitored

Environment

1

2

3

4 etc.

Economic

1

2

3

4 etc.

Social andCommunity

1

2

3

4 etc.

TransportandAccessibility

1

2

3

4 etc.



48




Whitby

Traditionally a fishing town, tourism is nowWhitby’s chief source of income and the townis an important holiday and day visitordestination for the region. Although tourism isa strong industry, jobs tend to be low paid andseasonal with those who work in the industryneeding stable and reliable jobs.

When Whitby carried out its healthcheck, itbecame clear that the business of tourism wasa must, but that emphasis should be placedon the quality of its tourism product. There isa need to educate business providers, and toencourage them to adopt environmentallyfriendly practices. Special events are neededto create geographical and seasonal spreadas well as providing opportunities to involvethe community in Whitby’s tourism product, bydrawing on their skills as musicians andartists.

The Whitby and District RegenerationPartnership has evolved out of the MarketTowns Initiative and has established a goodreputation among local people as an ‘honestbroker.’

The partnership is keen to take forward theBeacon Town sustainable tourism theme andto involve local people in this endeavour. Ithas established a sustainable tourism focusgroup and the town has now piloted newtourism guidance for market towns, whichencourages towns to make the most of theirtourism potential. Information gained throughthe pilot will be used to help make decisionsin Whitby.

While this work is progressing, work has alsostarted towards creating a sustainable tourismstrategy for Whitby. As a first step theCountryside Agency funded a consultant toprovide advice to Whitby and DistrictRegeneration Partnership on how to apply theprinciples of sustainable tourism to tourism-related projects outlined in the town’s actionplan.



50

Contents

Purpose❖ To put the plan into action and achieve

results.

❖ To monitor and evaluate progress.

❖ To review the vision and action plan.

The market town partnership may now wishto appoint a project manager to make surethat actions identified in the plan are carriedout. The order of events involved withimplementing the action plan is shown inFigure 10 on page 52. The partnership mayalso need to develop a new legal structure tocarry out some of the planned actions.Partnership function and legal structures arediscussed in more detail in Section 7.

6.1 Project management The project manager works with and supportsthe partnership in developing andimplementing the action plan. He/she will alsokeep the community informed of progress.The post will typically last for three yearsinitially, so supporting the partnership inachieving sustainability, and planning an exitstrategy at the end of the initial period, is anintegral role for the project manager.

An effective project manager needs to: ❖ have urban or community regeneration

experience;

❖ understand public sector and businessinterests;

❖ have the ability to mobilise voluntaryefforts;

❖ have financial and physical projectmanagement experience.

Box 13 on page 53 has more on theperformance requirements for a typicalproject manager.

A minimum two to three year commitment islikely to be needed to achieve positive andsustainable results, but the partnership mightalso want to implement longer term projects.The need for a full- or part-time appointmentwill depend on the scope of the action planand on the amount of community participationthat has been developed during thehealthcheck. The skills required are similar to,but more practically oriented than, thoserequired for coordinating the healthcheck.Some coordinators will be able to carry theaction plan forward as project manager, butany decision depends on an assessment ofthe skills and expertise of the individualconcerned and the needs of the partnership.Support for a project manager could beavailable from regional development agenciesin specific towns.



Figure 10: Implementing the action plan

6.2 Carrying out actions One of the challenges lies in achieving andmaintaining a sufficient level of enthusiasmand momentum to make things happen. Once the action plan has been prepared, it is important that any momentum gained is not lost during its implementation. Thepartnership or project manager should: ❖ set out a clear programme of action and

keep to it;

❖ clearly identify the roles andresponsibilities for those in the partnership;

❖ demonstrate the achievement of targets tothe partnership, wider community andfunding partners, so that a sense of

progress and accomplishment ismaintained;

❖ draw on specialist assistance wherenecessary;

❖ seek new sources of funding whereverpossible;

❖ be flexible, willing to adapt, and receptiveto new ideas;

❖ be pragmatic about what is realistic, viableand achievable.

Some of the actions might requirecollaboration with other bodies. It is importantfor partnerships to maintain the goodrelationships that have been establishedduring the healthcheck process. Where otheragencies or organisations are responsible fordelivering actions, the partnership may wantto consider drawing up service levelagreements to ensure the work is carried outas agreed and within defined timescales. Aservice level agreement is a voluntary deviceto commit partner agencies to theachievement of specific objectives. Theagreement should include:❖ an affirmation of the commitment;

❖ general statements of obligations;

❖ a definition of what will be provided;

❖ outcome targets and dates;

❖ sanctions to be applied if the targets arenot met.

For some actions and projects it may be moreappropriate to give members of thecommunity responsibility for implementation.Task groups or the working groups who wereinvolved in the healthcheck worksheets couldbe activated. It will be important to establishclear lines of communication and feedback onprogress.


Putting the plan into action

52

ADJUSTING THE ACTION PLAN

IMPLEMENTATION

MONITORING ANDEVALUATION

REVIEWING THE ACTION PLAN

6.3 Monitoring andevaluating results

The partnership, steering group or projectmanager should consider in detail how andwhen monitoring is to be undertaken. Overall,monitoring will determine: ❖ the outputs from each project;

❖ whether targets are being achieved ontime;

❖ whether the strategic objectives of thevision are being met.



Box 13 What is needed from the project manager

The project manager works with people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those in

senior positions and those who may be socially excluded. The post holder will need to be

politically astute, be able to identify problems and pick up signals at an early stage, take action

as necessary, and be able to drive projects forward without taking over.

Key performance requirements

1 Supervisory and managerial responsibility

❖ To lead the action plan projects, and supervise consultants and working groups as

necessary.

2 Decision making

❖ To make day-to-day decisions on implementing the action plan within the overall

framework of agreed priorities and work programmes.

3 Self management

❖ To be self-motivated and able to organise workloads to meet deadlines.

4 Creativity

❖ To think laterally and respond quickly to changing situations in order to find innovative

ways of engaging with the community and securing their continuing commitment.

5 Education and experience

❖ To be educated to degree level and have experience of partnership working and at least

three years’ experience of project coordination in either the public or voluntary sector.

Key performance indicators or targets shouldhave been clearly identified and included inthe action plan. When monitoring,partnerships should consider both quantitativeand qualitative targets, which include:

Monitoring and evaluation will need to beundertaken regularly. Evaluation reports onthe projects and key targets could beprepared on a yearly or half-yearly basis fordistribution to the partnership and fundingbodies.

Sometimes projects suffer from delays orattention and enthusiasm are diverted awayfrom the plan. Regular monitoring andevaluation will help the partnership identifysuch problems at an early stage and takeaction to ensure the project is taken forward.

6.4 Publicise and celebrateyour achievements

When a target in the action plan is completed,it’s a good idea to tell people. Articles andphotos for the press, displays in publicspaces and newsletters to the community allhelp to keep the initiative alive and thecommunity involved.

6.5 Reviewing the vision andaction plan

The evaluation can be used to review thevision and update the action plan. To reviewthe vision it may be necessary for thepartnership or project manager to run acommunity event similar to that held to gaincommunity commitment. At this, the visionshould be considered in the light of theevaluation and adjusted accordingly.

In reviewing the action plan, projects that arenot contributing adequately to thepartnership’s strategic objectives could beadapted or replaced with other initiatives. Anyadjustments to the action plan which arenecessary as a result of the monitoring, or asprojects are completed, will need to beagreed by the partnership or its steeringgroup. Those responsible can then seek toaddress other or additional issues throughnew projects. These refinements will help tointroduce fresh ideas and keep thepartnership from becoming stale.

Activities

Actions carried out

Timescales for actions

Outputs

Products or services that were delivered as a

result of the actions

Outcomes

Achievements as a result of the outputs

Changes as a result of the outputs

Impact

Knock-on effects of the outcomes – positive

and negative

Contribution to purpose, long-term

strategic goals and objectives

Lessons learned

Looking at what unplanned activities,

outputs, outcomes or impacts occurred

Ascertaining why the actions are successful

or not successful

Asking whether there will be continued

positive impact.



54




Wolverton Unlimited

Wolverton was established in 1838 by theLondon and Birmingham Railway Company asthe first railway town. It now sits adjacent tothe major conurbation of Milton Keynes, whichhas been identified by the Government as agrowth area. The proposal will result in thedevelopment of 70,000 new homes in MiltonKeynes, with provision for 2,000 homes withinWolverton.

The healthcheck was carried out in 2002 andfor six months over 500 people in Wolvertonand the surrounding area discussed how theirtown should develop in the next 20 years. Twolocal consultants who were able to draw ontheir existing knowledge of the town and localcontacts to overcome the natural scepticismand consultation 'fatigue' carried out theprocess.

After the event, people in the town felt thatthe healthcheck had helped to build local

capacity and had managed to dovetail into existing processes rather than duplicate.Subsequently, Milton Keynes Borough Councilfunded an £80,000 development frameworkplan that brought external consultants to thetown to develop an urban design andeconomic development framework based onthe healthcheck action plan. The developmentframework plan is now being held up as anexample of best practice.

The Government’s proposals for new housingpresent both problems and opportunities forWolverton. The new development will bringaround 600 affordable homes to the town, butresidents are concerned about where thesemight be situated and their style. WolvertonUnlimited, the partnership which developed asa result of the healthcheck, is now working toensure that any new development is inkeeping with these assets, with the town’sexisting character and ‘sense of place’. Thismakes it a unique example of communityengagement with a key role in assessing howto influence the strategic location of housingdevelopment.



56


Frodsham

Frodsham Forward

Frodsham Forward was established withfunding from the Countryside Agency and ValeRoyal Borough Council. The town undertook amarket towns healthcheck to create a clearpicture of the current economic, social andenvironmental situation in the town. Publicconsultation took place to identify the needsand ambitions of local people and to plan for the future. An action plan was developedto address local issues and bring aspirationsto life.

Only nine months after approving its actionplan, the partnership had successfully levered

in £2.4 million, including £1.6 million from theNorth West Development Agency, to fund arange of projects. The partnership attributesits fundraising success to the knowledge andexperience of its project coordinator, whoidentified funding sources and applied andlobbied for funds.

The partnership has also been successful inidentifying existing funding that wasearmarked for the area and, whereappropriate, ensuring that it was redirected toprojects in the action plan. This has helped tosecure small-scale, early win projects, whichprovide examples of issues in the action planbeing implemented. Projects have included therefurbishment of Helsby Community Centreand Castle Park Arts Centre and sponsorshipof various town events.

Contents

Purpose❖ To review the structure, function, and

performance of the partnership.

❖ To make sure the partnership continues torepresent the main interests of people inthe town and surrounding countryside.

❖ To plan for the ongoing success of themarket town action plan.

If the market town’s action plan and projectsare to be successful over the longer term,then the partnership which was established atthe beginning of the healthcheck processmust continue to be representative of thecommunity and function well. The partnershipshould have clear terms of reference (seeBox 14 opposite) and follow the principles ofsuccessful partnership working outlined inSection 1. Box 4 on page 15 should now berevisited.

7.1 The need to review andmove on

In any effective partnership, individualsshould successfully cooperate andcollaborate both between themselves andwith external organisations and agencies.They also need to continue to coordinate theimplementation of the action plan and thework of other community members.

As the healthcheck is completed and thetown moves into the implementation phase, it is often found that the mix of individualswithin the partnership is no longerrepresentative. Some people drop out or loseinterest; others may have a different agendaand may not fully support the town’s vision or

objectives. Often ‘new blood’, ideas, skills orknowledge may be needed to successfullyimplement actions and projects (for example,accountancy skills for projects which involvesubstantial amounts of capital investment).

7.2 Partnership function,influence andperformance

A community partnership’s function is toinfluence individuals and organisations totake action, to review and communicate theoutcomes, and to build capacity to continuefuture action. All partnerships or teams ofindividuals working together for a common



Box 14 Terms of referencefor the partnership

The partnership should adopt terms of

reference, which at a minimum should

cover:

❖ the purpose of the partnership and its

membership;

❖ who services the partnership by looking

after agendas and minutes;

❖ how often meetings occur;

❖ topics or issues that should be covered

in meetings;

❖ the powers of the partnership to make

decisions;

❖ what resources it has;

❖ to whom the partnership reports.

purpose naturally go through different phasesof group development. Thus, to enable apartnership to work effectively, themembership should periodically assess atwhich of the following stages it is functioning:

1 Forming – As the partnership forms,individuals define the task and a commonvision while creating opportunities forpeople to get to know each other better.

2 Frustration – Groups often encounter aperiod of difficulty because things aren’tgetting done, people don’t feel valued orare not fully involved, or the purposebecomes lost.

3 Functioning – At this stage groups haveusually agreed clear objectives, milestonesand responsibilities. They also have clearprocedures for getting things done andknow how to measure their success.

4 Flying – This stage of group dynamicshappens when the group communicateswell, anticipates future challenges, buildsfuture capacity and ensures that theparticipants are still serving a purpose todeliver planned benefits.

Where a partnership does not feel it isperforming well or is not making progress inmeeting its objectives and targets, you shouldreconsider its structure and functions, andplan how to reach an effective level ofperformance. Box 15 below summarises theareas to be considered. For an in-depthanalysis of function and effectiveness,partnerships should consider carrying out afull Stakeholder Analysis of the positive ornegative impacts of the internal and externalstakeholders, the importance of their impacton the success of the project, and how toimprove interaction and expand influence.


Sustaining the partnership

58

Box 15 Assessing performance

A Performance Assessment should consider how effective the partnership is in terms of the

following areas:

Governance and policy – including legal structure and terms of reference (see 7.2 and 7.3).

Resources – including investment and planning for the longer-term (see 7.4).

Promotion, marketing and celebration of success – particularly to keep the community

informed and involved.

Systems and procedures – which enable progress to be monitored and issues identified (see

Section 6).

Roles and accountability – including leadership, delegation and clarification of roles. Identify

who participates and who does not. Are there any sources of discontent or dissent within the

partnership? What is the impact of this?

Levels of communication and influence – identifying how well both formal and informal

channels are used internally and externally. Consider who shapes or influences opinions and

decisions both within the partnership and externally. Who have positions of authority or

responsibility? What connections are there with groups who will benefit from the

partnership’s actions or with those that oppose them?

Having identified the strengths andweaknesses of its current membership, thepartnership will need to consider how toaddress any gaps or shortfalls in effectiveness.

The size of the partnership is important andwhile the partnership should continue to bebroad based, a membership of no more than10–12 is generally considered to beappropriate for a steering group, executivecommittee or board. In determining themixture of individuals to form such a coregroup within the partnership, it is important toidentify the mixture of skills, knowledge andpersonalities that may be needed andrecognise how decision making can beinfluenced by different points of view. Box 16below gives more on some typical roles andcharacteristics of a balanced partnership.

7.3 Partnership legal formand organisationalarrangements

At this stage of the healthcheck process, thepartnership should consider which legal formwill best serve its purpose. There are twotypes of legal form to consider:❖ an unincorporated association, society or

trust;

❖ an incorporated organisation.

Many partnerships begin as unincorporatedorganisations. These are usually cheap andeasy to run. The unincorporated organisationcan simply be a group of people who jointogether for a common purpose. Thesegroups may well call themselves an



Box 16 Roles in a balanced partnership

Role in partnership Characteristics

Chair/facilitator Clarifies goals, promotes decision making, delegates well

Is mature, confident and a good chairperson

Worker/doer Turns ideas into practical action

Is disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient

Shaper Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles

Is challenging, dynamic and thrives on pressure

Eccentric/visionary Solves difficult problems

Is creative, imaginative and unorthodox

Researcher Explores opportunities and develops contacts

Is extrovert, enthusiastic and communicative

Monitor/evaluator Judges accurately

Is sober, strategic and discerning and sees all options

Team worker Listens, builds, averts friction

Is cooperative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic

Completer/finisher Delivers on time

Is painstakingly conscientious and anxious, and searches out

errors and omissions

association – or a partnership, such as a market town partnership. However,associations and partnerships are not legal entities and cannot therefore enter into contracts with third parties: this must bedone through the individual members who are then personally responsible and liable.Unincorporated status is often adopted when there are no employees and whenthere are no significant property interests.Unincorporated organisations should have a secure income and have no intention oftaking financial risks.

Unless the group or body wishes to become a trust with charitable status, there are norequirements for registration with anyregulatory body.

A partnership should consider becoming anincorporated organisation if it intends to enterinto contracts, particularly where this involves: ❖ employment of staff;

❖ owning or leasing property;

❖ taking on financial commitments orinvestments.

Note that a contract is created for manyeveryday activities that a partnership mightget involved in, such as hiring a minibus or aphotocopier. In the case of unincorporatedpartnerships, it will be the individual membersof the partnership who will be responsible forthese contracts.

The main types of incorporated organisationsare Industrial and Provident Societies and



60

Figure 11: Organisational legal forms

Organisation

UnincorporatedIncorporated

Associations Partnerships Friendly Societies Trusts

by shares by guarantee

Limited Company

Incorporated

Organisation

Industrial and Provident Society

Unincorporated

Limited Companies. Limited LiabilityPartnership and Community InterestCompany status (see below) are also optionsfor becoming an incorporated organisation.

An Industrial and Provident Society existsfor the benefit of its members. All membershave a vote and there need to be rulesspecifying how any surpluses or assets willbe used. While partnerships may go downthis route in order to establish a localcommunity or social enterprise (such as alocal exchange trading (LET) scheme), adevelopment trust, a credit union or acommunity business, becoming a limitedcompany is a more likely option.

Limited companies have a legal identity andcan be established for either charitable ornon-charitable purposes. They can take oneof two forms, which are: ❖ limited by shares (with profits distributed to

shareholders);

❖ limited by guarantee (where there is nodistribution of profits: instead any surplusis used to further the company’s purpose).

It is most usual for a voluntary organisation ora market town’s partnership to be a companylimited by guarantee where the companymembers own the company. Directors areresponsible for running a company limited byguarantee and they are subject to companylaw. Charitable limited companies can be setup as ‘for profit’ trading subsidiaries.

Partnerships also can consider the option ofbecoming a Community Interest Company(CIC). This is a new arrangement to allowsocial enterprises to use profits and assetsfor public rather than private benefit.Partnerships choosing this route will usebusiness solutions to achieve public good butmust commit to act in the community’sinterest in doing so. There is no single legalstructure required of a CIC but the company

cannot be a CIC and a charitable trust at thesame time. Charitable IncorporatedOrganisations (CIO) are yet another newform of legal status proposed in the CharitiesBill 2004. The Bill will pass into law during2005 and partnerships should updatethemselves on the legislation and regulationsrelating to CICs and CIOs.

Partnerships should consider the advantagesand disadvantages of charitable status. Alimited company can acquire charitable statusif it can demonstrate that its purposes areexclusively designed to bring benefit to all orpart of the communities at large, and not justto its members. All its purposes must becharitable. Under current legislation charitablepurposes are those directed towards one ormore of: ❖ relief of poverty;

❖ advancement of education;

❖ advancement of religion;

❖ other purposes beneficial to thecommunity.

Clearly, the last of these is likely to providethe basis for an application for charitablestatus. But note that the provisions of theCharities Bill 2004 include a revision of thedefinition of charitable purpose. Partnershipsare advised therefore to update themselveson changes that may come into law during2005.

Charitable status is often used when there isa need to raise funds and to give exemptionsfrom some taxes. A charitable trust must meetthe requirements of the Charities Commissionand have the capacity to administer itselfproperly. Charitable Trusts are allowed tomake money from their activities, but thesesums are treated as ‘surpluses’ to be used tofurther advance the charitable purposes, notas ‘profits’ that can be distributed.



Figure 12 below summarises the mainfeatures of the different forms of legal status.In considering the most suitable status, apartnership should consider its overall visionand objectives. Members should decide

whom they want to benefit from thepartnership’s activities, particularly if theywish to establish a community or socialenterprise, and whom they want to allow toinfluence or regulate future activities.



62

Figure 12: Legal status summary features

Pros and Cons

Easy and cheap to set up

Legal advice essential

Required to register

Can observe own rules

Rules have to follow legal requirements

Constitution has to be approved

Members have say in day-to-day decisions

Paid staff can be on committee

Body has separate legal identity

Body can hold own property and money

Property held by trustees

Limited liability for members and others

Accounts need to be submitted

Taxes and rates advantages

Help from charitable trusts

No limit on political activity

No limit on trading

Can get charity benefits without registering

Easy to wind up

Legal Status

Incorporated Unincorporated

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Indust

rial

&

Pro

vid

ent

Soci

ety

Ltd

Com

pany

Unin

corp

ora

ted

Ass

oci

ati

on

Chari

table

Tru

st

Fri

endly

Soci

ety

Not

Chari

ty

Chari

ty

Partnerships may find it necessary toconsider taking professional legal advicebefore proceeding.

7.4 Generating income forlong term viability

In the early stages of implementing markettown action plans, partnerships may rely onexternal sources of public funding fromnational, regional or local regenerationinitiatives. For the longer-term security of the partnership and market town activities,partnerships should consider reducing their reliance on short-term funding andexplore opportunities for greater financialindependence. Establishing a community or social enterprise is one method ofachieving this.

In order to establish a successful enterprisethe partnership should look for potential ideasfor providing goods or services. Opportunitiesmay have been identified through thehealthcheck process, and the partnershipshould focus on:❖ the needs of the community for services or

products;

❖ identifying which of these needs and wantsare not currently met;

❖ the unique or special features of the town;

❖ the skills or assets of people in the town.

At this stage, the partnership might want tohold a consultation event or creativityexercise to explore these ideas, focusingparticular attention on:❖ the attributes of the proposed idea, service

or product;

❖ how the idea can be made more valuable;

❖ who will buy it or use it;

❖ whether it will make money;

❖ whether the resources are available to setup and deliver the idea.

Successful community and social enterprisescan thrive either by focusing on the nicheservice they supply or by focusing on theneeds of the sector(s) of the community theyprovide for. Many partnerships that have gonedown this route have established networkswith other community or social enterprises,and over half have secured soft loans orgrants to help them start up. A full feasibilitystudy will be necessary, especially if grants orstart-up funding are to be sought. Sources offunding for community enterprise include:

❖ Equity;

❖ Loans;

❖ Social/community investment funds;

❖ Grants;

❖ Tax credits;



Box 17 Examples ofcommunity and socialenterprises

❖ Recycling or waste reduction schemes

❖ Local shop, café or sandwich service

❖ Business or Community Advice

❖ Handy-person initiatives

❖ Care services

❖ Transport schemes

❖ Promotion of local skills, products,

heritage or environment

❖ European structural funds;

❖ Single regeneration budget;

❖ Community development venture funds.

Partnerships should be aware of the hurdlesto setting up a successful enterprise,particularly where they have little expertise in

accessing funds or lack management orbusiness planning skills. The partnership willneed to analyse regularly the performance ofthe enterprise while monitoring its overallprogress towards meeting the market town’saction plan objectives.



64


A Succession Strategy forMalton/Norton Partnership

The Malton/Norton Market Towns Partnershipwanted to make sure that they could continueto serve local communities even after directfunding had come to an end.

The Partnership considered establishing itselfas a Development Trust but decided that, for asingle town with a limited number of projects,this was simply not sustainable financially oradministratively. Instead they got together withthree other towns in the Ryedale District ofNorth Yorkshire to form the district-wideDevelopment Trust called The RyedaleEconomic Trust. This is a not-for-profitcompany limited by guarantee with boardmembers from the private sector. The Trustwas set up with the aim of appointing a

project officer to serve all four towns andmake progress in delivering projects that meeteconomic aims, drawing on a wide range ofpublic sector funds. It is the intention that theTrust take on significant developments suchas setting up business start-up units ordeveloping brownfield land as a business orindustrial park.

The original Malton/Norton Market TownsPartnership maintains an advisory andconsultative role: the partnership has a broadmembership and plays a key part inrepresenting local people, for example bycommenting on the Local DevelopmentFramework and the Regional Spatial Strategy.By repositioning itself in this way, thepartnership has developed from being avehicle to deliver projects to acting in a morestrategic and consultative role, thus ensuringgreater likelihood that it will be sustainable inthe longer term.




Keswick

One of the key achievements of the markettown partnership in Keswick, Cumbria hasbeen to act as a link between existingorganisations and groups. The partnershipofficer has acted as a neutral link helpingorganisations to work together where therehad previously been difficulties.

The town has now been able to move forwardwith a project to develop the museum, with themuseum trust and Allerdale Borough Councilworking to recruit a project manager andcommission a feasibility study for its future. Inaddition, the partnership officer has played animportant role in directing businesses andcommunity organisations to other sources ofadvice and funding, even when the partnershiphas not had a great deal of money itself.

The healthcheck also revealed that despitelow unemployment there is widespreaddissatisfaction with the relatively low wagesand a jobs market that offers too few long-term prospects for those wishing to pursue acareer. Keswick has been repeatedlyoverlooked by conventional approaches toregeneration; but the market towns initiativehas inspired a local partnership to begin totackle these challenges. As a consequence agroup of local business people got together todevelop a pioneering proposal to introduce theconcept of Business Improvement Districts(BIDs) to a small rural town. The BID inKeswick will be geographically defined and allratepayers in this area will be eligible to vote.If the vote is successful the local authority willbe able to collect a supplementary levy on thebusiness rate which will be wholly designatedfor the delivery of specific proposals whichhave been agreed.

Action plan A practical plan for implementing the agreedobjectives of the healthcheck. It will include avision, objectives and a programme ofspecific projects usually over a two to threeyear time period. It should be updatedannually.

Benchmarking A method for comparing characteristics of atown with other market towns throughout thecountry. It is both a statistical comparison andan approach to looking in a qualitative way atcomparable towns.

Coordinator Person appointed to manage the healthcheckprocess. Their role is to provide liaisonbetween the partnership and local communityand provide administrative support.

Community event An event organised by the coordinator orproject manager on behalf of the market townpartnership and its steering group, to engagethe community of a market town and itssurrounding countryside. Events are carriedout to gain commitment to the healthcheck, toset a vision and to agree an action plan.Events may contain ‘brainstorming’ sessionsto gather ideas and/or a series of workshopsarranged around issues or topics.

Evaluation Analysing the monitoring of progress againstthe action plan.

Facilitator Person responsible for managing communityinvolvement and running community events.

Healthcheck The audit of the economy, environment,social and community assets and transportand accessibility of a market town and itssurrounding countryside.

Healthcheck handbook Practical guide to carrying out a market townhealthcheck.

Hinterland/catchment area Rural area surrounding a town that includescommunities that ‘use’ a town for a number ofreasons, for example where they go to work,where they go shopping or where they go touse services such as the library, bank, jobcentre, hospital, health clinic, school, etc.

Market town Towns in rural areas with roughly between2,000 to 20,000 population that have thehistory, or potential, of supporting andservicing its surrounding rural area.

Market town partnership A partnership can be defined as a coalition oforganisations and individuals who agree towork together for a common aim, or acompatible set of aims. Members of apartnership share resources andresponsibilities and agree to work together ina cooperative and mutually supportive fashionto achieve partnership aims. Multi-town orarea-based partnerships consist of peoplefrom more than one market town who shareenough common issues to carry out jointhealthchecks.

Contents

Glossary of terms


Monitoring Checking the progress of the action plan atregular intervals. Leads to an evaluation.

Outputs The effects of particular projects implementedthrough the action plan, for exampleinstallation of a certain number of CCTVcameras.

Participation The process of involving the community incarrying out tasks such as the healthcheck.Good participation should be as inclusive aspossible and should allow people to gainownership of the process for themselves. It ismore than consultation.

Performance indicators Benchmarks to measure how the market townchanges over time in response to specificprogrammes and initiatives.

Programme of actions A programme of projects on a particulartheme, for example transport, designed toachieve a particular strategic objective andstated in the action plan.

Project manager Person appointed to implement action plan.

Quick win A project identified in the action plan that canbe implemented quickly.

Report A written summary of the findings of thehealthcheck.

Revitalisation Improvements to the environmental,economic and social conditions of markettowns and the surrounding countryside.

Single Regeneration Budget The Single Regeneration Budget providesfunding to support regeneration initiatives inEngland carried out by local partnerships.

Snapshot Basic factual information about a market townand surrounding countryside prepared inadvance of answering the worksheets.

Specialist advice Members of a market town partnership withparticular skills and expertise, or local andregional experts who work with thepartnership. Provide advice on how to tacklethe issues of concern to local communitiesthat are identified from the healthcheck andon the feasibility of the vision and action plan.

Steering group The core group of a market town partnershipthat directs the work of the coordinator andoversees the preparation of the healthcheckand action plan, led by an elected chairman.

Strategic objective A statement for a particular aspect ofrevitalisation, for example environment ortransport, which supports the vision.

Surrounding countryside An area around a market town defined by thelocal community as being of importance tothem.

SWOT The process of identifying and analysingstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities andthreats.

Toolkit The web-based guidance on market townrevitalisation. Contains the market towns’healthcheck handbook and information onsources of advice and funding.


Glossary of terms

Vision This establishes the overall aims of themarket town partnership and the widercommunity to be achieved over a five to tenyear period. It is expressed as strategicobjectives.

Working groups Members of the steering group and widerpartnership, grouped around the topicheadings in the worksheets, who help toanswer the questions.

Worksheets The main part of the healthcheck consistingof questions covering four main topic areas:environment, economy, social and communityissues, transport and accessibility.


Glossary of terms

68

This document was originally produced by theCountryside Agency in May 2001. Over thelast few years lessons have been learned bytowns that have completed a healthcheck.These lessons have been incorporated in thisrevised document for the benefit of towns thatare about to undertake a healthcheck orthose that wish to revisit their completedhealthchecks.

The Countryside Agency is changing as aresult of Defra’s Rural Strategy published inJuly 2004. From 1 April 2005 we will:

❖ establish a distinctive new body to act as arural advocate, expert adviser andindependent watchdog, with a particularfocus on disadvantage;

❖ work with our partners, English Nature andthe Rural Development Service, regionallyand nationally, across our landscape,access and recreation remit. We will bringtogether our activities to improve servicesfor customers, work effectively withpartners and contribute to sustainabledevelopment as we move towards a newintegrated agency to be formed followingprimary legislation;

❖ transfer most of our current socio-economic delivery functions to RegionalDevelopment Agencies (RDAs) and Defrafor delivery through Government Offices.This includes the transfer of theCountryside Agency’s regional markettowns work to the RDAs.

We may be changing, but our skills,knowledge and enthusiasm will continue tobenefit people in rural England.

countryside agency market towns healthcheck handbook march-2005

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