This guidance note on governance for long-term stewardship was recently recently published by tbe Town and Country Planning Association.
Although aimed at the development of new communities, this guidance note on “governance for long-term stewardship” provides good practice that is useful in retrofitting the stewardship of exising communities. The guidance note defines long-term stewardship as “an approach to delivering and managing places that can ensure new communities are places which enable people and the environment to flourish in perpetuity.”
Determining the right governance vehicle
The guidance note sets out how it is important to not only to determine the necessary stewardship though also to consider the right stewardship organisation or ‘vehicle’. It outlines the variety of different legal and financial structures available to serve different remits and responsibilities.
The guidance note explains how governance for long-term stewardship is about who makes decisions, how operations and finances are managed, and who is responsible and accountable for the stewardship vehicle. Putting in place the right vehicle for governance for long-term stewardship, it recommends is essential for successfully looking after assets and involving the community in achieving this. Successful models can act on behalf of a growing community and engage new residents in shaping local decision-making and community development.
Determining a clear set of objectives
The guidance note on governance for long-term stewardship provides clear and inter-linked set of objectives to follow:
- Representation of, and/or interface with, the appropriate local stakeholder bodies
- The right skills and knowledge
- Clarity on roles and responsibilities
- Good communication with residents
- A structure that can evolve as the project progresses:
- Well resourced
Series of Garden City Principles
This guidance note on governance for long-term stewardship is one of a series that set-out core Garden City Principles set-out in “practical guides for creating successful new communities“. We especially recommend that this guidance note is read alongside an earlier one on “finance and delivery” for creating successful new communities.
You can download here a copy of the TCPA guidance note on governance for long-term stewardship.
Further reading
People & Places are authors of the Local Government Association’s revitalising town centres toolkit. This toolkit includes practical guidance on the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ of town centre revitalisation, including governance and stewardship.
For more specific guidance on governance models and community ownership of assets in new and existing communities, we point you to a trilogy of recent additions to the People & Places recommended reading on the virtual shelves of our Ideas Library, including building thriving neighbourhoods published by Locality.
