Types of community plan

Parish Plan

For most of the rural areas of Winchester District, the best option for community planning is a Parish Plan. This is community-led and aims to look at what a community needs, identify how to improve the quality of life for people who live there now and to make sure people can enjoy that quality of life in the future.

The same process and methodology can also be used for neighbourhoods within a more urban area, such as the town area of Winchester.

If your community has a small population, you could consider joining forces with neighbouring parish or neighbourhood to produce a wider 'area community plan'. This would help you to have a lot more influence on service providers and policy makers.

Comprehensive advice on how to undertake a Parish Plan is available via the ACRE Community Led Planning Toolkit.

Market Town Healthcheck and Town Action Plan

If your town has a significant local economy, the best option for community planning is a Market Town Healthcheck. This process was developed by SEEDA to appraise the strengths, weaknesses, future demands and opportunities of market towns, but is a methodology that can be applied to any community with a local economy.

Four communities in Winchester District fell within the SEEDA definition of a market town - New Alresford, Bishops Waltham, Wickham and Denmead. Not all of those communities have undertaken a Market Town Healthcheck, nor is it limited to just those mentioned.

Advice on how to develop a Town Action Plan is available via the AMT Town Action Planning Handbook.

Thematic community-led planning

There are other examples of community-led planning which focus on specific themes or issues rather than taking a holistic view of the community. For example, a number of communities in the district are making plans for how they can work together as a community to reduce their carbon footprint. As long as the process actively aims to include all members of the community and leads to a specific plan of action for that community, then it can be viewed as a community-led plan.

If you are undertaking or thinking about undertaking a parish plan or market town healthcheck, please contact our Community Planning Manager, Steve Lincoln, on 01962 848 110 or email slincoln@winchester.gov.uk.