Executive Summary This report outlines and summarises the findings of a public consultation that took place over 10 weeks in March, April and May 2023 for the development of the new Local Economic and Community Plan 2024 – 2029. Input was sought from all who call Cork City home, who work, do business and study in the city, and even those who visit Cork. There were several ways people and organisations could ‘have their say’ from sending in a written submission, completing an online survey, taking part in an in-person event and/or through stakeholder workshops and interagency meetings. The consultation was driven by best practice guidelines on local and community engagement 1 and the values outlined in the Values and Principles for Collaboration and Partnership Working with the Community and Voluntary Sector 2 . Cork City Council’s LECP Consultation Phase was selected as a model of best practice by the Department of Rural and Community Development and features in the ‘Guide to Inclusive Community Engagement (second edition)’ 3 . The aim of the public consultation was to hear as many views as possible from across the city with a special focus on reaching the seldom heard and building on a partnership approach with stakeholders. An extensive media campaign helped spread the word. This featured 5000 flyers distributed across the city and a bus stop poster campaign. A QR code was used to direct people to the LECP webpage which featured a short animation, 6 video interviews with local community development stakeholders and a 1-pager to explain what the LECP written in plain English. Staff from the LECP team went ‘on the road’ setting up pop-up clinics across all 10 city libraries. A total of 54 written submissions were received along with 462 online responses and 13 bespoke in-person consultation workshops were held targeting key stakeholders and seldom heard groups such as single parents, the travelling community, young people, older people and disabled people/people with disabilities. Three of these in-person events we delivered in partnership with UCC using a City Labs methodology. The findings of these City Lads are not included in this report but in a separate City Labs report 4 . This report tells a story of a vibrant, collaborative engagement between the people of the city and the City Council. The report summarises the key issues, themes and findings from the written submissions, the public survey and the in-person engagements with Cork City Councillors, Community Associations, Economic and Enterprise Stakeholders, single parents, the travelling community, young people, older people and disabled people/people with disabilities. By facilitating bottom-up input from a wide range of stakeholders, especially the marginalised and seldom heard voice, the new Cork City LECP 2024-2029 will help create an inclusive, sustainable, healthy and happy future for all. 1 “Guide for Inclusive Community Engagement in Local Planning and Decision Making” (February 2023), Coproduced by the Department of Rural and Community Development with Pobal, Community Work Ireland and the Irish Local Development Network 2 Department of Rural and Community Development, Government of Ireland, https://assets.gov.ie/225876/9732c425- 65df-4e92-b154-a51ca518b233.pdf 3 “Guide for Inclusive Community Engagement in Local Planning and Decision Making” (February 2023), Coproduced by the Department of Rural and Community Development with Pobal, Community Work Ireland and the Irish Local Development Network 4 City Labs report produced by UCC available at www.corkcity.ie/lecp
4
Powered by FlippingBook