Progress on our Sustainable Community Strategy
The Council has a statutory duty to work with partners to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) that sets out a long-term vision for the area and agreement on the key priorities and actions needed to deliver it.
The Board of Central Bedfordshire Together has overseen the process to develop the SCS and began the process with an ambition setting workshop and visioning exercise in September 2009. The emerging vision and priorities were refined by the Statutory and Thematic Partnerships and consultation, which has been ongoing, was carried out with;
- Town and Parish Councils in November 2009;
- stakeholders at the Central Bedfordshire Forum in January 2010; and
- business views gathered at Business Leaders lunch;
- voluntary and community sector organisations at the Third Sector Assembly in February 2010.
The first draft was also presented to a number of other partnerships and forums, and feedback received. Resident’s views have been gathered from a Resident’s Survey (with 1335 responses) and a Resident’s Discussion Workshop, with 35 attendees. Elements of the vision were also shared with businesses at a Business Leaders lunch in March 2009.
Feedback from partners, stakeholders and residents confirms widespread support for the partnerships’ vision and high level strategic priorities.
The final draft of Central Bedfordshire’s first Sustainable Community Strategy 2010 – 2031 (SCS) has been recommended to Central Bedfordshire Council for approval and publication by the Central Bedfordshire Together Board.