Thank you for helping us plan

The article included some coverage of the support given by the organisation I work for, Action with Communities in Rural Kent (the Rural Community Council for Kent and Medway), that provides free advice to communities when preparing plans that will shape their social, economic and environmental futures.

I wanted to write to say that the article has been very helpful in our work to devise a neighbourhood planning service for communities across Kent and, in part, as a result, staff and members from five local housing authorities, Kent Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Planning Aid, the Kent Association of Local Councils and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have come to us with ideas on shaping such a model.

Some of these bodies were ‘on board’ already, but the article proved quite powerful in showing just what can be achieved to others. We have the staff, we have the toolkits, we have the engagement and capacity building expertise, we have a track record.

We have recently learned that the Communities and Local Government department is funding four other bodies to do what we do already - including some of those mentioned above - so we are now working to see how our commitment to work on this agenda for at least the next four years can be augmented by the one-year investment in them.

Our next step is to agree a protocol with key local players that provides the framework for a long-term suite of support to communities in Kent so they can continue to create meaningful plans which stimulate economic, social and environmental benefits well into the future.

Keith Harrison, chief executive officer, Action with Communities in Rural Kent