Locality planning is strengthened across North Ayrshire
Work being carried out by North Ayrshire Council to strengthen its locality planning approach has been approved by Cabinet.
The aim of locality planning work is to involve local communities and Third Sector organisations in decision-making that will help improve residents’ lives, boost neighbourhoods and reduce inequalities in communities.
Giving residents, charities and community groups a voice at a very local level means work can be done to address specific priorities that are identified in each of the six localities – Arran, Garnock Valley, Irvine, Kilwinning, North Coast and Three Towns - leading to better services.
A report outlining a review of locality planning, ongoing developments and proposals that came from the recent assessment – which was carried in summer/autumn 2024 – was recently presented at a meeting of Cabinet.
Quote: A lot of fantastic work is already being done to ensure residents and communities are involved in decisions regarding public services that have an impact on them. This review has included a high level of community engagement, and it will give individual localities the building blocks they need to consider if we are we addressing inequalities as effectively as we can. The six localities must now chart their own course and, with support from elected members, deliver change.
Quote from: Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet member for Communities, Housing and Islands
Last year’s self-assessment involved community representatives and elected members, focusing on what is working well and which challenges exist. Feedback from the review was highly positive and showed that people across the six localities do feel involved in the decision-making process.
Recommendations from the assessment include:
- Opportunities to better support locality planning partnerships
- Updating the form and content of meetings and
- A fresh focus on locality action plans.
Proposed next steps will build upon existing good practice to further strengthen the role of locality planning and the involvement of communities in decision-making.
Priorities for making improvements going forward include: ensuring that each of the six localities continues to be treated individually as each has specific needs; reviewing the locality networks to involve more people; working more closely with North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and a refocus of the locality plan to emphasise how central it is to all work related to locality partnerships.
Please note: To find out more about Locality Partnerships in North Ayrshire, please go online. There is also further information about North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership.
Published: 23 June 2025