Community Charter
= "a rights-based document that sets out all the things in a local area which residents have agreed are fundamental to the present and future health of their communities".
URL = http://faug.org.uk/community_charter.pdf (Falkirk example)
Description
The Community Chartering Network:
"The Community Charter’s aim is to reframe how a community engages with the planning process for safeguarding community and environment, by putting what citizens consider most important in the centre of the process; rather than being driven by a reaction to, and often a 'fight' against, developers and decision-making bodies.
The Charter is not a legal document but takes legal effect through the planning process by being presented as a "material consideration" that the decision-making body needs to take into account under the UK’s legal planning framework. It articulates the community’s own vision about what it considers to be harmful or beneficial to its long-term future wellbeing, economy and eco-systems and affirms their right to be heard as part of the planning process on this basis.
Regulatory law is about legalising harms, or regulating the destruction of nature within the current system, there is little to guarantee prevention from harms in the first place. Additionally, the existing methods do not begin by asking residents “What do you actually want or care about to make you proud of where you live?” 'Putting Community and Environment First’ are the implicit values at the heart of a Community Charter.
...
The contents of a Community Charter are focussed around the positive values and visions residents have of their community and its future. While what we each value may differ greatly, it is possible for a community to make a powerful statement of intent by agreeing positive values that are shared by all. If a community has a clear articulation of what it does value, it is able to clearly set the boundaries of what it rejects.
The aim of the Charter is to articulate the positive valuing of “intangible assets” in order to give them recognition and value within the planning process. The Community Chartering Network can facilitate the community meeting from which your Charter is created and continue to give advice and support as you take it forward."
Example
Concerned Communities of Falkirk
"What is the Charter?
The Community Charter is a rights-based document that sets out all the things in our local area which residents have agreed are fundamental to the present and future health of our communities. These “assets” include a clean environment, our children, our homes, our community stability, a rich eco-system, food security, a healthy economy and trustworthy elected representatives.
We say these form our “cultural heritage”, which must be assessed under environmental regulations for all developments which potentially threaten our “assets”, such as the Dart application.
The Charter also sets out our rights and responsibilities to participate in planning processes that could affect our assets, and to have our views made a material consideration in all related decisions." (http://www.faug.org.uk/campaign/community-charter)
History
Community Chartering Network:
"The first UK Community Charter was created in 2013 by residents of Falkirk communities in Scotland, in response to a planning application by Dart Energy for unconventional gas drilling. It was then adopted by the local community councils and nearly half of the councillors of the local authority and played a significant role in addressing local residents' positions and concerns, becoming a material consideration in the public enquiry and helping bring about the temporary moratorium on Unconventional Oil and Gas in Scotland.
Our team also helped St Ives in Cornwall make a Charter on the heels of their Neighbourhood Plan. This was first published in 2016, held by the St Ives Community Land Trust, and is now at the centre of an extensive community consultation. St Ives also created a Local Economic Strategy to guide their economic future and with the three pillars of a Neighbourhood Plan, Charter and Economic Strategy are securing funding for community infrastructure."
More Information
- the St Ives Charter http://www.stivesclt.org.uk/?page_id=126
- the community chartering website: http://www.communitychartering.org/