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Have a look at two brand new animations that explain the role of community rights in the context of spatial planning, community asset transfer, and community planning.
These themes are examined in greater detail in a suite of three scoping papers. The papers – authored by Jenny Crawford (Queen’s University Belfast), Lorraine Hart (Community Land Use), and Gavan Rafferty (Ulster University) – represent a suite of three separate but interconnected pieces of work on community rights legislation in Northern Ireland.
Download the full suite of three community rights papers
Download Shaping Spatial Planning*
*Shaping Spatial Planning is based on Building the Capacity of the Planning System to Deliver Public Interest in Northern Ireland by Jenny Crawford, Geraint Ellis & Linda Fox-Rogers. Available to download in full here.
Download Shaping Asset Transfer *
*Shaping Asset Transfer is based on Review of Community Rights for Asset Transfer in Northern Ireland by Lorraine Hart. Available to download in full here.
Download Shaping Community Planning
Watch the videos, read the papers, and find out about the community rights agenda and what it could mean, in real terms, for you, your community and the organisation you work for. We at DTNI have long argued for changes to the legislation to make Community Asset Transfer more efficient and to strengthen the community voice in decisions that are crucial to the future of their space and place.
Legislation in England and Scotland has changed the way communities participate in local democracy there – for example, community organisations in England can nominate ‘assets of community value,’ even if these are privately owned. If successful, they may get six months to put together an offer to buy it. Should we have this in Northern Ireland?
Consider also the Scottish Community Empowerment Act, which introduced participation requests to help communities contribute to decision-making or participate in service delivery. Should this be part of the community planning process here in NI?
Thinking more globally, the Aarhus Convention makes community involvement in planning decisions a core principle. Do we in the north of Ireland need to back this up with legislation?
This work is supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.