What is it?
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Wide ranging creative activities to engage local people and stakeholders in the development of a Local Place Plan and Community Action Plan for Dunoon and Kirn.
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Local Place Plan Coordination by Hannah Clinch, – Dunoon Community Development Trust’s part time Information & Community Engagement co-ordinator
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Ongoing data gathering and research into the local area
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Regular Town Team meetings to share the progress of the Local Place Plan with people with a regeneration remit
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The recruitment and training of local people as paid Community Connectors with a research remit
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Information sharing about the local place planning process and outcomes.
Across Scotland local communities are working hard to develop Local Place Plans. Local Place Plans are documents that set out community informed ideas about the future use of land and building assets in a defined area.
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Dunoon Community Development Trust is leading this process for Dunoon and Kirn. Since March 2024 the Trust has co-ordinated a series of events, surveys and research activities with local people and stakeholders to inform the plan.
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A final version of the Local Place Plan will be submitted to Argyll and Bute Council in November 2025.
What local challenge is this project addressing?
People living in Dunoon and Kirn consistently report a lack of agency when it comes to influencing decisions and change in their community. In addition, we know from research that there is a lack of data specific to Dunoon and Kirn to inform investment to support regeneration.
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Local Place Plans, which are developed through high levels of community engagement and partnership working, are intended to communicate community priorities for the use of land and building assets in a place.
Alongside the Local Place Plan for Dunoon and Kirn, we are also developing a Community Action Plan (CAP), to inform how community stakeholders can approach the regeneration of our area through an agreed, co-ordinated action.
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A Local Place Plan is submitted to the local authority, in our case Argyll and Bute Council. The plan should be considered when the local authority is preparing their Local Development Plan. Theoretically, a Local Place Plan should inform local authority decision making processes and influence change in alignment with community aspirations and priorities, resulting in an improved sense of community empowerment.
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DCDT hopes that the process of developing a Local Place Plan with our community will result in more considered strategic action and investment by public sector stakeholders and community partners. We need to work together to tackle the known challenges faced by people who live here. These include high levels of deprivation, poor access to affordable housing, health inequalities, climate change, depopulation and frustrations about the condition of the public realm and the management of green and blue spaces.
Project funders >
