Inspiring Plans & Visions

This project has been motivated and the approach inspired by the following events, plans and reports:

The View of the Hill

A Shaftesbury Area Community Action Plan for 2005-2020 was prepared following consultations carried out by the Shaftesbury District Task Force and the Shaftesbury Area Community Partnership. Hundreds of people contributed to the work over a 3-year period in studies based around four themes and principles: Prosperity, Quality of Life, Community, & Character. The Task Force no longer exists but some of those involved have been consulted about, have been supportive of, and are volunteering to contribute to this latest project. The plan, 'The View of the Hill', is accessible to us.

Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan (NP)

The NP relates to the period 2019-2031 however was affected by the Covid19 pandemic and not adopted until 2021. The plan has become 'dated' in some areas. Preparatory work was carried out when the local planning authority for the wider area was North Dorset District Council. Several of Shaftesbury's local policies have been rendered out of date by subsequent planning decisions and by changes in national planning guidance. The NP is therefore in need of review. Meanwhile, Dorset Council is now our local planning authority and is working towards a Local Plan (for adoption in 2026) which could look ahead as far as 2041 and more fully reflect climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

In this context, Shaftesbury Town Council is overseeing a review of its NP, whilst accepting that a further review extending the reach of the plan will be needed to further align to the Local Plan in 2026. We have been assured that a 20-year community vision produced by the Vision for Shaftesbury voluntary group would be a valuable and influential contribution to this work.

Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) guide: Neighbourhood Planning in a Climate Emergency

This guide highlights a number of themes, currently missing from Shaftesbury's NP, which could be included in a further review and which should therefore be included in our surveys during Phase 1.

Zero Carbon Dorset (ZCD) Report: Dorset 2030

Produced by a team of volunteers, the separate chapters of this report provide real examples of initiatives that we might expect to see more of as Dorset reduces its dependence on fossil-fuels. The report can therefore inform some of our surveys to find out what is, or is not, wanted within our community.

Carnegie Trust, report (2011): Exploring Community Resilience

This report pre-dates Covid, the current cost-of-living crisis, and heightened concerns about the effects of extreme weather or biodiversity loss on food systems. Nevertheless, it gathers a mix of experiences from communities that have withstood shocks and academic insight to describe the characteristics of resilient, vibrant communities. It's another inspiring resource as we compile surveys to explore what Shaftesbury-area people want to keep, and what we would like to see improved.

Vision for Frome

Frome in Somerset is 3-4 times bigger than Shaftesbury and is widely perceived to be doing well: their markets attract many visitors to the town; some of their innovations (such as the SHARE shop) have been widely copied; and the town is seen as a vibrant place to live. Vision for Frome was a community group in the town which carried out surveys and produced a 20-year plan about 15 years' ago. More recently the community group disbanded and the plan is held by the town council who refer to it on their website, saying:

"At Mendip District Council, it was incorporated into its Local Plan (previously known as the Local Development Framework (LDF)) on the same basis as Parish Plans, and it can be used as a reference document for future planning applications. The Town Council, Mendip District Council and Somerset County Council are able to use it as an ‘evidence base’ for anything they plan to do which affects Frome, and indeed many if not most of its Objectives now form the basis for the current Town Council’s Strategic Plan of work."

An inspiring consultation & decision-making process: The People's Plan for Nature (PPfN)

The People’s Plan for Nature came from a collaboration between WWF-UK, RSPB and the National Trust with other agencies (including the New Citizenship Project, Involve, and the Sortition Foundation) providing funding and process support. It is a plan 'created for the people, by the people of the UK – a vision for the future of nature, and the actions we must all take to protect and renew it'. The two main phases of the project comprised online consultations followed by a 'people's assembly' - where a group representative of the UK population decided how to balance the needs of diverse people and nature. This process is illustrated on pp43-44 of the report's Executive Summary (access via link above). Our proposed approach is very similar but a Shaftesbury People's Panel would take the place of their People's Assembly. A comparison between these two approaches has been separately documented.