Contact: Jo White Policy Officer 5004

[email protected]

1. Summary

1.1. The following decision is sought:

That the `Eastleigh Borough Community Plan' be approved.

1. Reason(s):

2.1 Hampshire County Council is a key partner in the Eastleigh Strategic Partnership which has prepared the `Eastleigh Borough Community Plan'. Hampshire County Council approval of this document is necessary for the strategy to be implemented.

2.2 The Eastleigh Borough Community Plan supports Aim 4 of the Corporate Strategy (Building Strong and Safe Communities) by developing a long term vision to improve the quality of life for the Eastleigh community.

2. Other Options considered and rejected: Not applicable.

4. Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision maker or other Executive Member consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date: Friday, 15 September 2004

Councillor TK Thornber

Contact: Jo White Policy Officer 5004

[email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 Hampshire County Council is a key partner on the Eastleigh Strategic Partnership which has prepared `The Eastleigh Borough Community Plan' (see Appendix A) Hampshire County Council approval is necessary for the strategy to be implemented.

2. Background

2.1 The Local Government Act 2000 (LGA 2000) imposed a statutory duty on principal local authorities to prepare Community Strategies for their areas with the aim of improving social, economic and environmental well-being. These strategies must be prepared by a range of partners who agree to work together in a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The LSP for Eastleigh is known as the `Eastleigh Strategic Partnership' and is administered by the Borough Council. Hampshire County Council is represented by the Executive Member for Community Development and Regeneration who supports approval of the strategy.

2.2 The Eastleigh Borough Community Plan was submitted to the P&R PRC for consideration in January 2004 and was circulated to the Corporate Community Strategy Group for their comments. These comments were fed back to the LSP as part of their consultation process.

2.3 This decision supports Aim 4 of the Corporate Strategy (Building Strong and Safe Communities) by working together with local people to build strong and safe communities for everyone.

2.4 The relevant local Member's views are taken into account through the LSP mechanism.

3. Eastleigh Borough Community Plan

3.1 During the first half of 2003, Eastleigh established its LSP, (the Eastleigh Strategic Partnership, or ESP) and the membership criteria. This consists of a permanent `core' membership and a wider group of partners who may change over time, according to community priorities. To date the ESP has met regularly, discussing the development of the draft Community Strategy document, and its members have shown a strong commitment through reliable attendance at meetings.

3.2 The Eastleigh Borough Community Plan has been prepared as a result of community consultation and in conjunction with a range of partners, which includes the County Council represented by Cllr Kirk, Cllr Davidovitz and Cllr Holden Brown.

3.3 The HCC lead officer supporting the LSP, who is from the Education Department has been involved in the editorial group for this document.

3.4 The Eastleigh Borough Community Plan has been developed over the past 18 months, starting with a conference for a wide range of community representatives in November 2002. The conference drew on existing consultation work with the community, and a legacy of community planning and area committees already established by Eastleigh District Council.

3.5 The document sets out a vision for Eastleigh, four main principles underpinning the work which are sustainability, partnerships and sharing information, access and focus on people and eight main themes. These were the themes that emerged from the November 2002 conference. They were subsequently developed by small task groups, led by officers from the LSP partners. The essential elements of content have been well researched by the theme groups, and have therefore provided a sound basis for consultation.

3.6 The main themes in the Eastleigh Borough Community Plan are:

· Community Safety

· Employment

· Environment

· Health and Wellbeing

· Housing

· Leisure

· Lifelong Learning

· Transport

3.7 Each topic area is coordinated by a member of the LSP, for transport this has been coordinated by Cllr Davidovitz, with involvement from the environment department. Within each topic area there are aims, actions and indicators of success for the actions, and these have been agreed by the Environment Department.

3.8 Progress on the particular actions within the themes will be monitored and reported by the organisations and partnerships that have responsibility for those areas. The overall impact on the community towards the overall vision will be monitored by the Eastleigh Strategic Partnership itself.

Recommendation

That the `Eastleigh Borough Community Plan' be approved.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

File Location

None