We have been working together with community groups from across Aberfeldy, Dull & Weem to create a community action plan- a shared vision created by the community for the community.
What is a Community Action Plan?
A community action plan is a way of capturing the aspirations of a community and setting these out in a time bound plan. Community action plans are now increasingly recognised as an important resource for communities to have if they want to be successful in securing and directing funding for their priorities, and in making effective representation on their own behalf.
A community action plan clearly sets out:
- A vision for the future of the community
- What the community is like now (taking account of its assets and needs)
- The main themes and priorities for action
- Who should be involved and how priorities should be taken forward.
It is recommended that communities prepare plans on a 5 year cycle. Communities around Scotland have found them essential in making things happen, important as a way of re-engaging with the wider community and as a way of refreshing their community organisations. The Action Plan should be jointly prepared by the key organisations in a community and then jointly owned and delivered by them.
How do we create our community led plans?
A Community Action Plan cannot be prepared without extensive community engagement to ensure that it represents the views of a good cross section of the whole community and takes account of wider stakeholder views and plans. The process of creating a community led action plan includes these steps:
- The establishment of a Community Action Plan Steering Group which brings together the community’s key organisations to jointly plan the future of the community together. Our steering group comprised Aberfeldy Development Trust, Tay Valley Connections, Climate Cafe, Aberfeldy Parish Church, the community councils, the Birks Cinema and Perth & Kinross Council.
- A Community Views Survey – of all households/or a quota sample of households. You can read the Community Views Survey Report here.
- A series of Stakeholder Interviews (Community Conversations) with different organisations and interests in the community. You can read the Stakeholder Report here.
- The preparation of a Community Profile that collects together the facts and figures about the community. You can read the Community Profile here
- A Community Futures Open Day Event to show the results of the process and to prioritise projects and actions. Our event took place in October 2024, with approx 300 people taking part.
- The drafting and finalising of a 5 year Community Action Plan – as a well-designed community owned document, which can be shared with all residents and other stakeholders, supporters and funders.
- A Launch Event for the Action Plan.
Read the Final Community Action Plan 2025-2030.