The community planning process varies according to what a community feels would work best for them.

Community members are welcome to participate – attend meetings, give feedback and get actively involved in any aspect of the process or individual projects.

1.        Staff in the Community Planning Unit work with a community to identify local groups and individuals, spread the word about the opportunity for community planning, work out what would be the best way to run a meeting or gathering, and bring a group of enthusiastic people together to get started.

2.       In collaboration with that initial group, a public gathering or meeting is organised and held, involving a diversity of local individuals and groups.

At the gathering, the community identifies what they value in their community, what its existing strengths are, and what they would like to see developed in the future.

3.       Together, they distil their ideas into a list of priorities and projects (e.g. starting up a local music night, restoring a community hall or building a walking track).

At the same gathering, a group of volunteers emerges, or is nominated, to develop the plan and work on the priorities. This group is called the Community Planning Group (CPG).

4.       The CPG then plays a leadership role in developing project plans under each of their priority areas, including mapping out the steps in the funding and implementation of each one.

Ideally, this involves getting project action groups together to run individual projects. Generally, these groups are made up of people with a particular interest or expertise in the project.

The project groups also have a responsibility to keep the CPG and the community posted about project design, how projects are progressing and to welcome participation.

5.       The CPG and project groups continue to identify funding resources and work with the council and other, government and non-government, bodies to implement their plan.

They also nominate a time, for example a year from the endorsement of their plan, to hold another public meeting to report back on progress and, if the timing suits, to review and revise their plan.