Community Strategy Introduction

The government has given local authorities powers to promote or improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their areas.

They have also said that all local partners should work together to develop and agree a community strategy outlining the priorities that all organisations, working together, should tackle to make local communities truly sustainable.

Partnerships

This document, which builds on the Framework Community Strategy for Nottinghamshire published in 2003, outlines what we believe are the major priorities for our work together over the next four years. View a copy of the Framework Community Strategy for Nottinghamshire [PDF 80KB] . This high level and medium term vision will be augmented by annual action plans with short term targets against which progress can be measured.

This document builds on the strong tradition of partnership work in Nottinghamshire; there are over 300 existing partnerships - neighbourhood, local, sub-regional and thematic.

The existing plans and strategies of these partnerships are also used as a foundation, we won't duplicate or supersede them but they'll complement and contribute to our work.

In particular, we're building on the work of the existing local strategic partnerships (LSPs), - district-based partnerships with a wide remit to tackle issues for local communities across the county.

We have reproduced the main priorities driving the local work of each of the LSPs later in this document and have evaluated what each of these is trying to address. Several LSPs are currently consulting on their priorities and forward plans as they near the end of their first 3-4 year cycle and begin to plan for their next. It is clear that there is much common ground between LSPs in the county and city, and there is alignment and consistency between the priorities being pursued by LSPs and those outlined in this wider strategy.

'Bringing together all the main players to deliver better public services across the county.'

The Nottinghamshire Partnership Forum, which steered the work that resulted in the drafting and adoption of the Framework Community Strategy, is now evolving into a more formal partnership which is driving the development of the countywide Local Area Agreement, bringing together all the main players to deliver better public services across the county.

Partners believe that by developing better working relationships, we can build on the county's strengths, tackle our needs and improve quality of life for all, creating truly sustainable communities.

It is important to stress that the sub-regional agenda in north Nottinghamshire and Greater Nottingham is very important, with two existing sub-regional partnerships driving economic development and regeneration issues on behalf of the East Midlands Development Agency. The relationship with the City of Nottingham and the One City Partnership (www.onenottingham.org.uk) is also very important. It is impossible to address many themes or priorities across the conurbation for example in transport, urban and sub-regional planning and development - without close collaboration over cross-boundary issues. We do this with the Joint Structure Plan, the Local Transport Plan and the Greater Nottingham Development Strategy (www.gnpartnership.org.uk/gnds), and this approach is working well in the development of the Local Area Agreement (www.nottinghamshirepartnership.org.uk/laa).

The document also puts into context more detailed work being carried out by individual organisations, networks and communities. The strategy should provide a vital link between local concerns and priorities, many of which are addressed by parish and town councils, and the sub-regional, regional and national framework. One particularly important relationship is with the East Midlands' Integrated Regional Strategy (www.emra.gov.uk), which acts as the region's sustainable development framework and sets countywide and more local work in context.