community-led planning & climate change

COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF DEVON helping communities help themselves

COMMUNITY-LED PLANNING COMMUNITY-LED PLANNING & CLIMATE CHANGE& CLIMATE CHANGE

Jay Talbot Chief Executive

Community Council of Devon(CCD)


WHAT I PLAN TO COVERWHAT I PLAN TO COVER

• Rural Community Action Network • Planning led by the Community • Case studies on climate change• Using the local climate projections


RURAL COMMUNITY ACTION RURAL COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORKNETWORK

The primary support for rural community action …..1 national, 8 regional, 38 local development agencies

……..serving England’s 11,000 rural communities.

SHARED PURPOSE• Support community-led action and local governance

• Increase long term sustainability of community life

• Influence policies and services to achieve equity for rural communities


ABOUT CCDABOUT CCD helping communities help helping communities help

themselvesthemselves

• Founded 1961• The Rural Community Council for

Devon• Charitable Company structure• Currently 24 staff (many part time)• 900 members (mainly organisations)• 3rd Sector Declaration on Climate

Change


RURAL COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENTRURAL COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

• Rural community action keeps communities alive, largely through volunteers & external support

• 7,500 examples of independent democratic neighbourhood governance

• £2.1 billion in assets owned by the community, run by 80,000 trustees, in 9,000 village halls

• 4,000 communities have taken on the challenge of mounting some kind of community led planning


COMMUNITY LED PLANNING (CLP)COMMUNITY LED PLANNING (CLP)

• A dialogue within the community, by the community

• Takes up to 18 months to complete

• Helps local people learn about their community and what makes it ‘tick’

• Holistic – social, environmental, economic

• Inclusive, realistic, evidenced-based

• A 9 step process that ends in a formal action plan -- the community’s own vision of its future


CLP - national research dataCLP - national research data

• 60–95% households engaged by the process

• Average of 40 priority actions per community

• 47% actions taken on by communities themselves

• Strategic links with over 250 local authorities

• 25% all resulting actions are ‘environmental’


158 COMMUNITY-LED PLANS158 COMMUNITY-LED PLANS

• 158 completed in Devon

• 50 more in progress

• New plans, but also updating older ones

• ‘Communities in Action’ database – means of capturing county wide action and progress


ENVIRONMENT & LOCAL PLANSENVIRONMENT & LOCAL PLANS

• Environmental issues (& social inclusion) – highlighting these is key role for CCD

• Traditionally dog mess and litter

• Moving to climate change and recycling

• Environmental initiatives not necessarily identified as climate change ones


LOCAL ACTION: CLIMATE CHANGELOCAL ACTION: CLIMATE CHANGE

• 30 active climate change action groups

• Town based – spreading to villages

• Local activists … and local opposition

• Variable levels of community engagement

• Champions vs Community Development


DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK – CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT

• Two communities involved

• Looking at how climate change fits with community-led planning processes

• Toolkit to be developed for future use

• Particularly important as plans update


CASE STUDY 1: SOUTH BRENT CASE STUDY 1: SOUTH BRENT

• SB21 brings together 3 local bodies• Parish Council• Sustainable South Brent• South Brent Community Action

• 2003 South Brent Plan – ready for review

• Sustainable South Brent (launched 2007) has 5 theme groups


CASE STUDY 1: SOUTH BRENT CASE STUDY 1: SOUTH BRENT

• 5 theme groups: Home Energy, Community Energy, Local Produce & Services, Transport, and Trees group

• Activities: Awareness Raising, Base-lining (re Carbon Emissions): Home energy consumption: Tree group: Local Services; Transport; Community Energy.

• Parish Plan Review – climate change embedded in all issues. Action focus. Flexible funds needed


CASE STUDY 1: SOUTH BRENTCASE STUDY 1: SOUTH BRENT

Energy Saving Trust

and O2 Energy Saver Fund representatives visited local homes and recommend how they could cut energy bill by up to £1,300 through insulation, draught proofing and low energy light bulbs


CASE STUDY 2: CASE STUDY 2: MORETONHAMPSTEADMORETONHAMPSTEAD

• Community plan 2006-07

• MAGS set up

(Moretonhampstead Action Group for Sustainability)


CASE STUDY 2: CASE STUDY 2: MORETONHAMPSTEADMORETONHAMPSTEAD

• Activities: Public involvement; Baselining; Climate Change Plan; Household Energy Consumption: Renewable Energy: Plastic Bags & Packaging; Recycling

• Linking to the town Plan: actions such as:• street lighting• cycle path to neighbouring village


CASE STUDY 3:CASE STUDY 3: HOVERINGHAM VILLAGE HALLHOVERINGHAM VILLAGE HALL

• River Trent floods 2000

• 350 residents – too small to defend

• 1 in 10 year risk

• deteriorating - climate change + flood defences upstream!


CASE STUDY 3: CASE STUDY 3: HOVERINGHAM VILLAGE HALLHOVERINGHAM VILLAGE HALL

• Village Hall identified as control centre + refuge• Little used - cold / primitive toilets / inadequate

kitchen• Nottinghamshire RCC and Planners advise ….. • Now … 10 emergency beds, screens, dual fuel

cooking, emergency power generator, broadband for emergency communication, up-rated bathrooms

• Linked to other incident controls centres• Village flood database covers 98% of local buildings

• Added value – the hall is cheaper to run and more use to the community


CASE STUDY 4: CASE STUDY 4: HALDON HILL BLOCKED BY SNOWHALDON HILL BLOCKED BY SNOW

• February 2009• Hundreds stranded• Our Population

is urban … but our Geography is rural

• Nearest town Chudleigh had an Emergency Plan


CASE STUDY 4:CASE STUDY 4: HALDON HILL BLOCKED BY SNOWHALDON HILL BLOCKED BY SNOW

'Our escape from snow chaos'Hundreds of motorists spent the night at Chudleigh

Town Hall where St John's Ambulance staff, local businesses and residents served tea and coffee and handed out blankets. The Chairman of Chudleigh Town Council, Cllr Douglas Lang said.

"There was a real war-time spirit. We had tea and coffee making facilities and the owners of The Old Bakery supplied bread, milk and sugar. They also made bacon and sausage rolls for everybody. The newsagents supplied tea and coffee too."


CCD’s HERITAGE PROGRAMMECCD’s HERITAGE PROGRAMME

18 months work with 8 – 10 local groups

Heritage Lottery Fund support Researching extreme weather events

to inform future practice Linking local history to community

action Transition villages emerging


LESSONS FROM LESSONS FROM COMMUNITY LED PLANNINGCOMMUNITY LED PLANNING

• Climate change not a priority for many local groups

• Climate change action groups can struggle

• Need to be challenged - local data improves interest

• Town/ Parish council endorsement provides momentum and possible grants access

• Support (eg. local enablers, small grants, database) would be highly effective and value for money

• Need local baseline on carbon emissions


EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EMERGENCY PLANNINGEMERGENCY PLANNING

• Local knowledge and leadership a vital ingredient

• Effective preparation for extreme weather events has added value (cohesion, facilities, citizenship)

• Good practice needs sharing / adopting• Village agents (Severn floods 2007)


VALUE OF LOCAL VALUE OF LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATIONCLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATION

• Easily available, straightforward, visual, intuitive

• Front page gives quick and easy access to local data.

• Problem over wide range of scenarios• Recognise some groups are highly

developed, others are new.


Cont ……VALUE OF LOCAL Cont ……VALUE OF LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATIONCLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATION

• Need to measure impact, for example: • Baseline position for greenhouse gas

emissions• Value of smart meters – energy,

thermal heat loss• a way for communities to track

reductions


Cont ……VALUE OF LOCAL Cont ……VALUE OF LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATIONCLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATION

• topographically sensitive for micro – climate events

Lynmouth 1952

Boscastle 2004


IN CONCLUSIONIN CONCLUSION

• Great potential in a strong link between local climate projections and community-led planning

• Strong potential for more effective links between statutory and community-owned plans on climate change adaptation and mitigation

• Enabling, facilitating and sharing positive practice is an essential ingredient

• Can communities tackle this by themselves?


Contact Contact detailsdetails

Jay Talbot Chief Executive

Community Council of Devon

T: 01392 383443E: [email protected] W: www.devonrcc.org.uk

Registered charity No: 1074047 Company limited by guarantee No: 3694095 VAT No: 942 0496 27

community-led planning & climate change

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