SDC has over most of the last month been preparing tender documents for a Community Action Plan (CAP): a plan to help the community identify issues, priorities and opportunities and how to address them.
A CAP is a road map for implementing community change and delivery of essential services by clarifying what will be done, who will do it and how it will be done. A community participates in its creation and approval. The plan describes what the community wants to achieve, what activities are required during a specified time period, what resources are needed to be successful. It becomes a framework for implementing the activities that are decided by the community itself. The focus is more on the process of understanding and overcoming problems in order to develop the whole community rather than just physical development such as building houses or recreational facilities for example.
The completion of a CAP was a key recommendation in Foundation Scotland’s review of SCBF, published in 2017. Foundation Scotland was of the view that the lack of a CAP was keenly felt in Strathnairn. Community members will be asked to participate in this process by a variety of means including surveys, face-to-face discussions (where COVID restrictions permit), online surveys and telephone discussions. There will also be an advisory panel comprising a representative section of the community to guide the consultants in their work.
Tender documents have been sent to a short list of appropriate consultants, and should be returned to SDC in a few days. Applications for funding will then be made with a view to beginning work at the end of June 2021.
SDC will also be discussing the formation of the advisory panel with key stakeholders shortly.