A Scottish Parliament Committee is seeking views on how to achieve community wellbeing.
The Local Government and Communities Committee is keen to find out what people think affects ‘community wellbeing’ and have launched a call for the public’s ideas on what this future work should focus on. Continue reading Your Priorities: What makes a strong community?
The next Forth and Inverleith Edinburgh Voluntary Sector Forum meeting will take place on Thursday 24th October from 10am – 12pm in EVOC’s office at 525 Ferry Road.
Locality Manager Peter Strong will talk about the Locality Community Planning Partnerships and the role of VSFs within these. Continue reading Forth & Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum meets next week
Leith Conference 26 – 27 October 11-4pm
Leith Conference is an opportunity for local people, community organisations and businesses to explore, identify and prioritise key issues affecting life for better or worse in our community. Continue reading Leith Conference: have your say on key local issues
Mapping Physical Activity in Edinburgh
We want to identify as many physical activity facilities & opportunities as possible all across Edinburgh and put them all on a clever online map and we need your help.
How can you help? That’s easy. If you know about a group, club, activity, facility, etc. you think we should add to our map go to our online ‘SurveyMonkey’ page here and fill in our short questionnaire, it should only take about 5 minutes.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7V8V2WN
We’d be grateful if you would also pass this on to as many people as possible who might be able to help.
We don’t have a definitive deadline but if you could complete the 5 minute survey as soon as possible it would really help. We’re hoping to as much info as possible processed by the end of August.
Many Thanks
John Brennan
(On behalf of the planning groups behind the Edinburgh Locality Physical Activity Alliances)
If you would like to find out more about the physical activity mapping project or anything else about the physical activity alliances in Edinburgh please get in touch. There is also a portion of the survey where you can leave your details if you wish.
Leith’s community councils are urging city planners to reject Drum Property Group’s appeal against the decision to reject contoversial plans for Stead’s Place on Leith Walk. Continue reading Leith community councils demolish Drum’s Leith Walk appeal
First meeting of new Forth Neighbourhood Network tomorrow
New Neighbourhood Networks are being set up across Edinburgh. They will bring together community groups, voluntary sector organisations and local councillors to identify what matters to their neighbourhood. Continue reading Neighbourhood Partnerships, no more: now it’s Neighbourhood Networks
‘Starting to establish neighbourhood networks’
We’re now setting up neighbourhood networks across Edinburgh. They will bring together community groups, voluntary sector organisations and local councillors to identify what matters to their neighbourhood. Continue reading First meeting of Inverleith Neighbourhood Network tonight
Community groups, voluntary sector organisations and local councillors will come together across the city this month for the inaugural meetings of the new Neighbourhood Networks. Continue reading Neighbourhood Networks: exciting new chapter for community planning?
People living and working in Gracemount are being asked to take part in a new approach to designing local services. Continue reading My Gracemount: residents asked to shape services
New powers across areas of health, environment and leisure services could be given to local communities. Initial findings from the Local Governance Review published today, show that people overwhelmingly want more say about how public services are run in their area.
The review received more than 4,000 responses from across Scotland.
Publication today is the start of a process that could mean communities are given direct control of specific public services.
The Scottish Government is working with COSLA on the next stage of the review, which will look further into the type of powers communities would like to control. The results of the review will be published in 2021.
Communities and Local Government Secretary, Aileen Campbell, said: “A wide range of people with very different backgrounds, experiences and interests overwhelmingly responded that they want to have more say about how local public services are run in their area.
“We want to see a step-change in democracy in Scotland where decisions on public services are made in communities – where they have the biggest impact.
“Options are open as to what services are devolved, and there is still a lot of detailed work to do but we have the opportunity to shape the future of democracy so local communities can really flourish.”
COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison said: “The initial stages of this review have made clear that local, democratic choice and control matters to people’s lives.
“There is now a need across the country to achieve improved outcomes for our communities, particularly those communities suffering persistent inequality.
“With leadership from Local Government and the Scottish Government, we will continue the conversation to get it right and give communities more say in decisions that impact on them.”
Director for Electoral Reform Society Scotland, Willie Sullivan, said: “The biggest threat to democracy is that it does not grow and adapt quickly enough to meet the expectations of citizens.
“It’s clear that we have to remake democracy and governance for a time of rapid social and technological change and authoritarian threats. The only way to do this is from the local up and along with as many people as possible. The Scottish Government and COSLA seem to be embracing these ideas.
“Doing this well and getting it right will take time and attention. We welcome the progress made and will keep ensuring that democracy is at the centre of the hope for future transformation so that Scots can know the power and pride of running their own towns and villages”
Director of National Development for BEMIS Scotland, Mrs. Tanveer Parnez, said: “Utilising a human rights-based approach, in addition to facilitating participative democracy, within the Local Governance Review and associated Democracy Matters conversations, present an attentive and much needed approach to advancing democratic participation, active citizenship and empowerment for diverse communities at several levels.
“We have seen the impact of this approach through the positive and dynamic participation from diverse local communities in the first consultation phase, and we are fully committed to enhancing and progressing the equal partaking and participation of diverse communities in the next round of engagement and any new decision-making arrangements.”
Read the full joint statement.
The Local Governance Review has been delivered in partnership with COSLA and was launched to give local communities more say about how public services in their area are run.
We are encouraging everyone to get involved and help strengthen democracy in a way that makes Scotland a better place for all. If you want to stay in touch, you can sign up to our newsletter, email us at democracymatters@gov.scot and follow us on Twitter @CommEmpower.
