topics in more detail.
Partnership working
Our success in achieving the aims and ambitions of the Vision for Leeds depends on having the right partnerships to make sure we can deliver them. During the coming months, we will review our partnership structures and make changes to them so that they reflect the priorities of the Vision and involve partners and communities. We will set up new district partnerships to help turn the Vision into reality in all parts of Leeds. Partner organisations are considering the best way to reflect the aims of the Vision in their own plans and strategies.
We will develop a thorough and effective system for monitoring our progress and reporting to the Leeds community on how the city is performing. We will take steps to improve if progress is too slow.
We will also work to improve the systems that help to identify the issues and challenges facing communities in the city. The evidence we collect will help us to make decisions about priority action and investments.
Involving the community
Effective community involvement is essential in improving the quality of life in Leeds. In developing this second Vision for Leeds, we have listened to the views of local people. In particular, we have tried to reach some groups which do not normally have a voice in decision-making, including young people, older people, black and ethnic-minority communities, people with disabilities and other groups. A full report on the involvement and consultation activities is available. Involving the community is not a one-off activity and we have developed structures over the last few years to get more local people involved. This ranges from representation on strategic partnerships through to community forums and projects. ‘A Leeds guide to
involving the community in decision making’ (published
by the Leeds Initiative in 2003) is a practical tool for partners to help make the way we work more effective and consistent.
70
71
Our review of community involvement in Leeds came up with the following.
• There are many examples of innovative and effective involvement activities but they are not often publicised or reproduced in other areas. • A lot of our current involvement is limited to asking
people about public services rather than involving people in a wider range of issues.
• There is no strategic approach to community development, and community-development projects suffer from short-term funding and lack of long-term planning.
We will involve local communities in identifying needs and priorities, finding solutions and taking action. This means providing support, such as facilities, staff and funding, to get local people involved. The word ‘community’ can mean people living in a neighbourhood or groups of people with a common interest or concern.
We will develop a strategy and action plan to take community involvement forward and to make sure it forms an essential part of all our plans and activities.
Developing joint intelligence and information
Solid, reliable information is vital to everyone who has an interest in the long-term future of the different neighbourhoods and communities that make up the city of Leeds. Since the first Vision for Leeds, we have worked together to create a local statistics project for the city. For the first time, this brings together up-to-date information and maps covering a range of issues such as population, low income, health, crime and educational achievement on a website - www.leeds-statistics.org
We need to improve the way we use information in our decision-making, taking advantage of up-to-date research by the universities.
We will:
• improve the way we plan, using predicted future social, environmental and economic trends;
• work together on research programmes and share results more efficiently;
• build up and share information; and
• extend the local statistics project and the range of information it provides.
72
High-quality design
Good-quality design creates landmark buildings, spaces and places. It puts character and soul into communities, and gives expression to the city. In Leeds there are many individual places with distinctive qualities and identities - market towns, rural areas, outlying communities and centres. We are committed to building carefully designed buildings, spaces and places to draw out the individual characteristics of all parts of the city. High-quality design is an important aspect of all parts of the Vision for Leeds.
We will:
• open up new places and spaces, and restore existing ones;
• develop methods for making sure that high-quality design and identity is a feature of all new developments; • use design to connect areas, and provide attractive
buildings and public areas; and • involve local people in design.
Good design provides the background to everybody’s lives and can help bring communities together. It develops a sense of local pride and creates lasting confidence.
Using planning powers and directions
Physical and land-use planning will help to achieve our priorities. The planning system will change in the near future to provide more scope to support the overall Vision for Leeds. A new local development framework (a set of local land-use plans and guidance) will help us to deliver the second Vision for Leeds and direct building and land-use decisions. It is also vital that regional planning strategies take account of Leeds’ position in the region and its relationship with surrounding towns and cities.
To help make sure that the Vision for Leeds is put into practice through the Leeds Local Development Framework, we will:
• identify and map out what effect the Vision for Leeds will have on local land use and plans;
• draw up more detailed area action plans for towns and neighbourhoods where major change is expected;
• where possible, adopt common ways of measuring change between the Vision and the local development framework; and
• continue to play a leading role in Yorkshire’s planning strategy.
73
Identifying and focusing funding and resources
To deliver Vision for Leeds, we will need more investment in many aspects of life in the city. There has been a huge amount of private and public investment in the city already, which has led to Leeds’ recent success. However, more private and public money and better use of the funds available can help to make sure that we achieve the city’s priorities in the future.
We need to take advantage of new money and use it flexibly to fund new projects and activities. We also need to make sure that we use public money and voluntary efforts to achieve our priorities, particularly within the communities where needs are greatest. The private sector is vital, investing and creating wealth throughout the city, and encouraging new schemes. Its expertise can help to attract new funds and find new ways of attracting investment into the city. Our partnership with government and other funding agencies is important in making sure that Leeds receives its share of support. We need to look carefully at new funding systems such as business improvement schemes and public-private partnerships for regenerating areas.
Leeds has attracted more funds from national and European government for individual programmes and projects, though this has not been on the same scale as other major cities. We need to press hard for the funds needed to maintain Leeds’ role as a regional capital, and to attract support for narrowing the gap between the most disadvantaged people and communities and the rest of the city.
We also need to make sure that, where possible, we co-ordinate decisions about how public-sector budgets are used to meet our priorities. We need to use one-off funds for specific projects to try out new programmes which, if successful, will become regular activities.