ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE: Area Committee South DATE: 28 May 2009 CORPORATE DIRECTOR: John Tomlinson (Lead for Culture & Learning) TITLE OF REPORT: Review of Neighbourhood Community Planning, and Neighbourhood Community Action Plan Delivery Programmes for 2009/10 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT To provide an annual review for the year 2008/09 on progress with Neighbourhood Community Planning, including actions delivered, major and long-term projects and identified areas for development. The report also provides detail on the Neighbourhood Community Action Plan Delivery Programmes for each Neighbourhood for 2009/10. Elected Members should note that these Delivery Programmes are active documents and will be further populated as Council Service Plans are finalised and new actions agreed. 2. RECOMMENDATION(S) It is recommended that the Committee: (a) Notes the progress with implementation of the NCAP actions for 2008/09. (b) Notes the identified areas for development of the Neighbourhood Community Planning process. (c) Approve the Annual Neighbourhood Delivery Programmes for 2009/10, as circulated previously to Members. (d) Approve that emergent issues are addressed through line-management/ partnership arrangements and existing budgets, with any resource issues reported to Committee for decision. 3. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Neighbourhood Planning is delivered within current revenue budget streams. The intention is to move towards a position where the priorities identified through individual Neighbourhood Community Action Plans are directly linked to the Service Plans, Team Plans, and the budget-setting process for each of the Services within the new Council structure. Progress on implementing Neighbourhood Community Action Plans is subject to available budgets and priorities within other Plans. 4. SERVICE & COMMUNITY IMPACT The development and implementation of Neighbourhood Community Action Plans contributes to: • All the Community Plan Challenges, • The Council’s Vision to be “a city which is vibrant, dynamic and forward looking – an even better place to live and work, where people can expect high-quality services that meet their needs”, and, • The Administration’s commitment to consult and work with partners, the private and voluntary sectors and Aberdeen’s citizens. • Relates either directly or indirectly to all 15 National Outcomes of the Single Outcome Agreement between Aberdeen’s Community Planning partnership and the Scottish Government. 5. OTHER IMPLICATIONS The delivery of neighbourhood planning in Aberdeen is undertaken by five Neighbourhood Community Planning Officers working alongside Community Planning Partners and other agencies. The structure of the service is currently under review to take account of the reduction in staff, re-alignment of Council services and partnership working. 6. REPORT Background The first 37 Neighbourhood Community Action Plans were developed between 2003 and 2005, and then published for each Neighbourhood throughout the City, in early 2006, based on information obtained from the Planning for Real exercises carried out the previous year. These plans were originally produced to cover the period 2006-09 and it was recognised that they would need to be reviewed on a regular basis, to ensure they were responsive to changes within the communities, and that the priorities were still relevant. It was also recognised that plans would need to respond to ongoing and annual consultation and engagement with local communities, together with feedback and progress from within the Council, and other Community Planning partners, in line with the approved framework for Neighbourhood Networks, which is attached as Appendix 1. The current arrangements for the development and reporting on Neighbourhood Community Action Plans are as follows: 1. The development and format of the 2009/10 Neighbourhood Community Action Plans and their Delivery Programmes conform to a common city- wide template, which was considered by the Locality Planning Forum at its meeting on 23 April 2009; 2. The Delivery Programmes contain defined projects developed in response to both strategic and neighbourhood priority issues; 3. Copies of the 2009/10 Neighbourhood Community Action Plans along with the Delivery Programmes have been circulated previously and are deposited in the Members’ lounge; 4. Updates on the implementation of the Neighbourhood Delivery Programmes will be reported twice yearly; namely by way of a six month review in September 2008 and an annual review in March 2009; 5. Elected members, together with other Neighbourhood Network stakeholders will receive Neighbourhood Bulletins on a quarterly basis. Neighbourhood Community Action Plan Progress for 2008-2009 Throughout 2008/09, progress on annual Delivery Programmes has been reported regularly to Committee. This has included the successful delivery of many actions to meet targets, and reporting on those that are either no longer relevant, or have been delayed for justifiable reasons. In some cases, larger scale, or complex projects have been ‘rolled over’ for inclusion in the 2009/10 Delivery Programmes. Detail on this progress for each Neighbourhood is set in Table 1 of Section 3 of the respective Neighbourhood Community Action Plans which are at Appendix 2 to this report. Neighbourhood Community Action Plans & Delivery Programmes for 2009/10 The Neighbourhood Community Action Plans, incorporating the annual Delivery Programmes for 2009/10 have been circulated previously and are deposited in the Members’ lounge. Emerging Priorities for 2009/10 In South Aberdeen, Neighbourhood Community Planning Officers have undertaken consultation with community organisations; including Community Councils; Tenants’ Associations and Community Forums. This has taken place at meetings throughout the year and through the “Have Your Say” leaflets. In January 2009 community representatives were invited to participate in the ‘Spring into Action’ community engagement event in the South area held at Kaimhill School. A market place forum encouraged delegates to raise priority issues and seek responses from a wide variety of partners. The emerging priorities 2009-2010 are summarised as follows: S1 Culter • Local Development Planning • Western Peripheral Route • Youth Activities • Traffic Management • Profile of Police and Community Wardens S2 Cults, Bieldside & Milltimber • Local Development Planning • Western Peripheral Route • Youth Activities • The 3Rs Project at Cults Academy and Community Access S3 Hazlehead • The 3Rs Project at Hazlehead Primary School and Community Access • Youth Participation and Actvities • Local Development Planning • Activities for Older People • Community Newsletter S4 Braeside, Mannofield, Broomhill & Seafield • Local Development Planning • Activities/Services for Young People S5 Garthdee • Local Development Planning – Garthdee Master Plan • Community Safety including vandalism, anti-social behaviour, graffiti, drug- dealing • Profile of Police and Community Wardens S6 Ferryhill • Community Safety – wider use of CCTV, use of City Wardens • Road and pavement maintenance • Community facilities – extension to Community centre S7 Kincorth,Leggart & Nigg • Partnership in Prevention and Intervention • Actvities/Services for Young People • Local Development Planning S8 Torry • ACC to address funding costs of expanding Torry Neighbourhood Centre • Provision of affordable family homes with gardens • Tackle mental health issues • Develop projects for alcohol and drug abuse S9 Cove • Progress on Henderson Complex • Protection and enhancement of the Conservation Area of Cove • A new secondary school • Road and footpath improvements • Master Plan for Cove • Local allotments • Teenage use of Cove Library S10 West End • Increase community engagement • Property management (Factoring) Scheme • Community safety and Community Wardens Review of Planning Process, 2006-2009 Reflecting on our experience of Neighbourhood Planning to date, we can identify a number of areas for development. These are set out below. In addition there is a need to re-design the detail of our approach to fit the managerial re-structuring being undertaken by both the City Council and Grampian Police. To make the review and design more effective, a small working group has been established by the Locality Planning Forum to report by December 2009 so that any changes can be incorporated into our new management arrangements. The working group will be chaired by Councillor Mark McDonald and include officer representation from CMT, the Head of Community Planning and Regeneration and representatives from Grampian Police, NHS Grampian and the Civic Forum. Proposals will ultimately be reported to TACA and the Policy and Strategy Committee for approval and action on the learning to date in order to achieve effective Neighbourhood Planning in the future. 1. Community Engagement Criticism has been made about the quality and level of community engagement as part of the neighbourhood planning process. This has, in part been generated by the varied approaches across the City and misconceptions created by the different arrangements that existed for Neighbourhood Networks. Action Points: • Consideration should be given to adoption of a citywide approach to community consultation. • Regular feedback and communication should be integral to effective community engagement by all partners. 2. Issue identification This is the outcome of the stakeholder engagement and analysis of neighbourhood data taking into account national,regional