10/03/04 - Allerdale Local Committee considers Workington Community Action Plan

This week, Cumbria County Council’s Local Committee for Allerdale heard about recent Neighbourhood Forum meetings held in the three Workington Forum areas. They also endorsed a Workington Communities Action Plan, commending it to other partners within Workington Regeneration.

The three Neighbourhood Forum areas comprise; Harrington & Salterbeck, Moorclose & Westfield, and Workington Central. The development and the activities undertaken by the forums are a Local Committee contribution to community engagement as a part of Workington Regeneration arrangements.

The Community Action Planning process has enabled local groups and individuals to put together their local priorities to inform the spending decisions of Workington Regeneration Board and their partner public spending bodies. Each year the Action plan is reviewed and adapted to keep local priorities up to date.

County Councillor Barbara Cannon, Chair of the Local Committee says,

“Local Committee Members are already closely involved with their local neighbourhood forums in the identification of local community needs. Members work with their colleagues in the District and Town Councils to enable local people to ‘have their say’ in setting local priorities for the ways in which regeneration cash might be spent.  We also work with local activists in the forums  to review how the regeneration cash has helped to meet local community needs, and for them to adjust the next years priorities.

We have also been keen to see that local grants panels themselves can make clear recommendations. The action plan review demonstrates that 161 grants totaling £305,000 have been allocated through the Forum grants panels’ recommendations during the review period, January 2002 – August 2003.  This has significantly assisted local community groups across Workington to both develop themselves and to make vital contributions to the community life and spirit of the town.”