Making Community Planning Work for the People

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, like all councils across Northern Ireland are engaged in a process that will make community planning the integral way we do things.

The Council offered local people the opportunity to be involved in seven local District Electoral Areas where they can get their voices heard on local issues In addition, the council wanted to ensure that the voluntary and community sector were a key strategic partner in the community planning process. In order to do this effectively, Newry, Mourne and Down Council commissioned CollaborationNI to act as an honest broker and to facilitate the development of a structure that would enable the sector to engage effectively in the community planning process.

CollaborationNI is delighted to have been able to develop the new formal Strategic Stakeholder Forum which brings together key representatives from across the sector. A Terms of Reference for the Strategic Stakeholder Forum has been developed that outlines a vision to co-ordinate and communicate the priorities of the voluntary and community sector for Newry, Mourne and Down and to act as a vehicle to communicate with and engage with council on an ongoing basis.

Members of the Strategic Stakeholder Forum are committed to using it to get the voice of the sector heard in community planning. The Strategic Stakeholder Forum has elected its first joint chairs who are Nicholas McCrickard, County Down Rural Community Network and Rosemarie McDonnell, Citizens Advice Newry, Mourne and Down. They will also participate in the main Community Planning Partnership Board for Newry, Mourne and Down on behalf of the Strategic Stakeholder Forum.

The Forum has agreed twelve representatives who will sit on the respective community planning thematic groups of Environment and Spatial, Health and Well-Being, Economic Development and Regeneration and Safety and Good Relations.

The Strategic Stakeholder Forum will develop and grow as community planning becomes a reality and everyone in the Forum is committed to making Community Planning work for the people of Newry, Mourne and Down.

Rosemarie says, “I am delighted to be part of Strategic Stakeholder Forum and to be the joint Chair with Nicholas. Community Planning is about empowerment, making better informed decisions and sustainability. It is the vehicle through which we in the Community & Voluntary sector can provide input and participation to local service delivery and infrastructure and I look forward to engaging with all agencies involved.”

Members of the Strategic Stakeholder Forum:

Altnaveigh House
Citizens Advice Newry, Mourne and Down
Community Development and Health Network
Confederation of Community Groups
Conservation Volunteers
County Down Rural Community Network
Down Business Centre
Down Community Transport
Down District Citizens Advice
Home-Start Newry and Mourne
Kilkeel Development Association
Mourne Heritage Trust
National Trust
Newry and Mourne Community Transport
Newry and Mourne Co-operative and Enterprise Agency
Newry and Mourne Senior Citizens Consortium
PIPS Newry & Mourne
SPACE – Supporting People and Communities NI
TADA Rural Support Network
The Conservation Volunteers
Volunteer Now
Women’s Aid Armagh Down

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