Getting to Grips with Localism and Neighbourhood Planning – Devon
By Katie Fewings • Feb 18th, 2012 • Category: EventsWith the Localism Act offering a range of new rights to communities to give them a greater role in shaping where they live, the aim of the workshop in Dawlish on Tuesday 17 April was to help towns ‘Get to Grips’ with what Localism means in reality for their towns.
Using a mixture of presentation and Q&A, the workshop specifically focused on aspects related to planning, land use and development, looking at what these new rights and opportunities mean in reality to communities living in and around small towns and parishes.
After an update on the Localism Act and an explanation of its different elements, the workshop focused on Neighbourhood Development Plans, including how they relate to any existing Community Led Plans.
View the Localism Act presentation here.
One of the reasons for choosing Dawlish as the location for the event is that Dawlish is itself a Neighbourhood Planning Front Runner. A team from the Dawlish Neighbourhood Plan group and Teignbridge District Council, presented their experience to date, including lessons learnt and tips for other towns now embarking on a plan.
View the Dawlish/Teignbridge District Council presentation here.
Given the recent launch of the Coastal Communities Fund and the fact that several of the delegates were either from coastal towns or were Local Authorities with coastal towns in their area, we adapted the standard ‘Getting to Grips’ programme to include an additional session highlighting the particular issues surrounding small coastal towns. Alex Midlen from CoastNet gave an overview of the issues faced by coastal towns, showing that the process of using community planning and the opportunities presented by the Localism Act to address such issues is of relevance to all towns, wishing to play a greater part in shaping where they live, whether coastal or rural.
View the CoastNet presentation here.
If you have any questions about this event or any other AMT events, please contact Susannah Maxwell on 01284 756567 or at susannah.maxwell@towns.org.uk
What next?
- Read our localism guide and find out about our localism advisory service
- See our guide to Neighbourhood Planning
- Download localism resources
Katie Fewings is Katie graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2000 with a BA in Modern Languages (French, Spanish & Portuguese).
She honed her organisational skills over nearly four years as PA to the Director of an internationally renowned firm of architects in London before moving to Brighton and taking up the post of Project Manager at the online ethical travel directory, responsibletravel.com. In this role, she organised the annual Responsible Tourism Awards with partners World Travel Market, The Telegraph, Geographical Magazine and BBC World News, and facilitated a programme to develop and support community based tourism with the Washington NGO, Conservation International.
Katie has a strong interest in issues of sustainability and social responsibility, and has set up her own website, Ethical Weddings (www.ethicalweddings.com) to help couples plan the wedding of their dreams without compromising their values. She also co-founded Our Ethical Network in Brighton to give ethically motivated businesses in the city the chance to meet one another, share common problems and explore business opportunities.
Katie is developing AMT's online presence and helping towns to share knowledge and best practice from their successful initiatives through online networking in the new AMT Forums and other social media.
She works Tuesdays and Thursdays and can be contacted on 07876 701 266 or by email at katie.fewings@towns.org.uk.
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