Community planning is designed to enable local people to decide on what they would like to see happen in their own town or community.

It involves bringing the community together to:

• Identify what they value about their community, and what strengths and resources are already there
• Explore how they’d like to build on these, how they’d like their community or town to develop
• Identify and decide on shared priorities and projects; and
• Work together to achieve these priorities.

Communities who develop their own community plan are well placed to receive funding.

State and Federal governments, as well as private and public funders, prefer to see broad community support and agreement behind project proposals. Increasingly, community plans are being seen as evidence of this.

At a local level, priorities and projects developed through community planning are in a strong and visible position when it comes to Council’s planning and budget allocation.