Uredale Community Partnership
Community partnerships will form a key part of how the new North Yorkshire Council operates, ensuring that local priorities and challenges are addressed as effectively as possible.
In May 2023, the council formally gave the go-ahead for a series of community partnership pilots. Ripon and its surrounding rural areas is one of five pilots, before roll-out across the county.
NYC announces community partnership pilots
Ripon leads the way in North Yorkshire
What this means to you…
This presents a fantastic opportunity to improve the area in which we live, work and invest in, and consequently, the lives of all its residents. The Uredale Community Partnership brings together public, private, community and voluntary sectors to identify local issues and to influence the decisions and service delivery of the council and other bodies. Together we aim to mobilise the energy, resources and relationships in the partnership to deliver the most appropriate local solutions across the Uredale community.
The four Division Councillors are involved, and as a pilot, the partnership has a free hand to design how it operates. Furthermore, being outside of the control of the local authority it is able to bid into a wide range of funds.
Where we are now…
The first steps were made at a meeting on 25 July 2024 in Ripon with 30 participants representing a cross section of the Uredale community. There was real motivation to collaborate and engage across the groups.
A second meeting on 24 October 2024 in Masham saw six priority areas identified based on a comprehensive review of the research and data that already exists.
These are:
- transport
- access to services
- housing
- youth and community cohesion
- digital connectivity
- culture and green space
Task and Finish Groups have been created to identify a pipeline of priority projects.
Benefits of the community partnership…
- Empowered Local Decision-Making: The partnership, with its diverse range of stakeholders, informs local service deliverers what changes would best meet local needs; and ensures that decisions reflect the unique needs and aspirations of each community
- Enhanced Collaboration: A collective voice, where expertise from various sectors promotes innovative solutions to local challenges, leading to more effective and sustainable outcomes
- Increased Community Resilience: Local agent for economic and social change to help the community to become more self-reliant and resilient
- Improved Service Delivery: Collaborative efforts enable the development of services that are better tailored to the specific needs of the community, enhancing overall well-being and social connectedness
- Create Community Initiatives: Develop and expand projects such as community recognition awards, initiatives for active travel and accessibility, summer activities for children, green fairs, and joint celebrations of national events