Section 6: Council Activities

You are here > Home > Council Documents > Plans and Strategies > Community Plan 2009-2019 > Section 6: Council Activities > Community Development

Community Development

Responsibility

Bry Kopu (Manager Community Development)

Description of service

Community Development carries out the following three core functions:

1. Community Development Advisory Service

Co-ordination of and participation within community networks, in order to build successful working partnerships and outcomes through improved communication channels and development of collaborative initiatives.
Provision of group and ‘one on one’ capacity building support to new and existing community groups.
Support and development of community initiatives, which strengthen communities and contribute to Community Outcomes.
Facilitation of opportunities for people to participate in community events, forums and capacity building activities.
Key contact for State Services and wider State Sector on local issues of social and community development.

2. Community Development Advisory Service

Administration of the Council’s community funding schemes, including the provision of advice and support to individuals and groups when applying to external agencies or for council funding.
Pursuit of external funding opportunities in order to deliver targeted community development projects which contribute to Community Outcomes.

3. Housing for the Elderly

Provision of tenancy services for Council’s Housing for the Elderly Service.

Scale of service

This describes the size and scope of the activity.

Community Development Advisory Service

Community Development Advisers working across 11 strategic portfolio areas to deliver:

Support to 50-plus community groups, including the Council’s Youth Subcommittee.
Twelve coordinated or supported events per annum.
Over 50 forum and network meetings.
Produce and distribute community resources including 500-plus Percolator social service newsletters 11 months of the year, 500-plus social service directories and an annual funding booklet.
Administer externally raised funds of $115,000 (confirmed until 2011) for the implementation of community initiatives.

Administering Community Funding

Maintain Council owned assets and places used by the community and community groups, e.g. Heritage Protection Fund and Rural Halls ($165,400).
Support community groups in the delivery of projects and social services, e.g. Community Partnership Funding and Social Services grants. ($1,073,500).
Community Partnership Funding to support community groups in the delivery of one-year projects that contribute to Community Outcomes ($54,700).
Council concessions, includes $1.1 million in ‘consessional leases’ and $1.01 million in ‘rates remissions’ ($2,166,200).[1]
Creative Communities grants, monies distributed on behalf of Creative New Zealand ($45,000).

[1] This is included in this activity to demonstrate the level of subsidy the Council supplies to other organisations. This is not an amount funded from rates.

Housing for the Elderly

Administration of 156 low-cost housing units for the ‘Housing for the Elderly’ service, which includes six-weekly visits and quarterly tenant newsletters. Return to top

Rationale for activity

Under the Local Government Act 2002 one of the purposes of local government is to “…promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of communities, in the present and for the future”. All four well-beings are inter-connected and interact with each other in particular ways to build strong communities. Community Development focuses on the building of a strong district community that gives people a sense of belonging and encourages them to take part in social, cultural, economic and political life. The service primarily promotes social and cultural well-being, by providing ‘social-connectedness’ opportunities for individuals and groups to access information and support services; participate in community events and the development of networks and projects that encourage partnerships and improve quality of life.

Community and voluntary organisations are at the heart of strengthening communities as their services are the foundation for many individuals to participate and provide collective assistance to meet various community needs (from recreation to social service agencies). These organisations and groups make a significant contribution to the well-being of the community. Therefore, the provision of community development support to these groups is vital to ensure they are sustainable, capable and able to be responsive to the changing needs of the district.

Contribution to Community Outcomes

Community Development primarily contributes to the Together Community Outcome through the facilitation of community events and provision of support groups.

Together

A district that is caring, inclusive and works together and where people have a strong, distinctive sense of identity.

T1 All people feel valued and supported within a caring community and have a sense of equality and belonging.

T2 A cohesive, united community exists based on strong relationships between people from different cultures, communities and organisations. Multi-ethnic diversity is celebrated and different cultural values are respected.

T4 People from all sectors of the community are able and encouraged to contribute to their communities and opportunities to participate are enhanced.

T5 Cooperation, collaboration and coordination between agencies, organisations and councils occurs to avoid duplication of resources, minimise ‘red tape’ and promote a consistent focus.

T7 There is a sense of community where local distinctiveness and diversity are valued and allowed to thrive.

Community Development also makes a contribution to Secure and Healthy, Skilled, Sustainable and Vibrant Community Outcomes.

Negative impacts on community well-being

There is a limited amount of resources that Community Development Advisers have available to work with individual groups. Community Development attempts to minimise this impact by working with groups that are most in need of assistance, as well as encouraging sustainable practice through group training and networks.

Facing the challenges – assumptions and risks

Assumptions

The proportion of the population aged over 65 years is forecast to increase from 15 per cent (2006) to 19 per cent by 2020. It has been assumed that this will result in increased demand from elderly people for community facilities and services to cater for their age-related needs.
Young people are most likely to be underrepresented in local democratic and community processes.
Community groups will continue to require support to build internal capacity to meet the changing needs of the community.
Changing work patterns and lifestyles will continue to affect people’s willingness or ability to get involved in community and voluntary groups.
Growing importance of ‘cultural identity and well-being’ including the arts and heritage.
Increasing levels of obesity and inactivity amongst the general population. A steady rise of persons living with chronic disease: diabetes, asthma and heart disease. This makes communities less healthy and more dependent on community services.
Increased demand on Community Development’s Community Funding. Return to top

Risks

This section identifies potential risk to Community Development operations and service delivery, these include the impact of:

Skills shortages within Taranaki, could mean it is difficult to recruit suitably qualified Community Development staff and retain existing staff.
Increased demand for Community Development services may not able to be met from existing staff resources.
Drop in volunteer support (capacity) within the community.
Failure to keep pace with changing cultural values within the community.
Increased dependence on council for funding to support ‘social service’ and community groups.

Managing risks

In order to mitigate these risks the Community Development Team will focus its finite resources where they will be of the most benefit in achieving service objectives. The service will:

Provide staff with support, training and development to help create an attractive working environment and increase retention of all staff. The attractive working environment also assists with attracting new staff to the team.
Work collaboratively with other agencies to ensure that its scarce resources are targeted to the areas of highest need.
Work closely with New Plymouth Volunteer Services to help community groups to develop strategies for attracting and utilising volunteer resources more effectively and run events that recognise the contribution of volunteers and raise the profile of volunteerism in the community.
Actively participate in networks to monitor changes including key agencies such as Ethnic Affairs, Human Rights Commission etc. The importance of cultural values through the diversity action programme.
Encourage community groups to adopt a multifaceted funding strategy. Provision of information resources including funding expo and funding booklets form part of this approach.

Levels of service and performance measures

The following levels of service and performance measures outline the objectives we will set and how we will measure our progress.

Levels of service and performance measures

Asset information

Assets required

The Community Development Team operates from commercially leased offices located in the Cinema Five Complex, Devon St, New Plymouth.

The Community Development Team provides tenancy service for Council’s Housing for the Elderly, which comprises of 156 housing units (106 one bedroom units and 50 bed-sit units) at 26 locations in New Plymouth, Inglewood and Waitara. Return to top

Managing improved and/or expanded services

The demand issues affecting community development are:

Community funding applications exceeding current funding levels.
Level of assistance provided to individual community groups.
Support of voluntary sector (balancing changing needs and expectations of volunteers with community organisations).

These issues can be managed by:

Encouraging community groups to develop multi-faceted funding strategies.
Encouraging community groups to adopt sustainable practice in their employment of volunteers, succession planning and project development.
Encourage staff to assess levels of assistance provided to new and existing groups to ensure energy is directed into those who most need assistance.

Funding

Community Development is primarily funded through general rates. It also attracts central government contracts and funding for targeted projects that contribute to Community Outcomes.

Managing change

Understanding the complexity of factors that lead to social exclusion.
Social exclusion is the lack of access to opportunities that enable an individual to have, or aspire to a decent standard of living. The underlying causes of social exclusion are many, including: poverty, poor health, mobility problems, lack of education, employment opportunities and discrimination. These factors can work together or independently resulting in a cycle of exclusion for the individual, their family and even across generations. Therefore, it is important the Community Development Team create opportunities for social engagement, that reflects the changing needs and values of the community.

Community participation.

A core focus for the service will be to engage and encourage participation with those groups most at risk of ‘social exclusion’ including youth, older persons and Māori.

Capacity building and volunteerism.

Encouraging staff to assess levels of assistance provided to new and existing groups to ensure services are directed towards those most in need of assistance.
Encouraging community groups to develop multi-faceted funding strategies.
Encouraging community groups to adopt sustainable practice in their employment of volunteers, succession planning and project development.

Multi agency strategies.

As described earlier in the plan the Community Development Team is only one of many agencies in the community that work with and support community organisations. The nature and diversity of groups and agencies means that multiple strategies and relationships are required.

Maintenance, renewal and replacement of assets

The Housing for the elderly units are of varying age, the oldest having been built in the 1950s and the newest in the late 1970s. The housing for elderly assets have a current buildings asset replacement value of $13,206,300.

These units are administered by the Property Assets Team and maintenance, renewal, replacement and enhancements of the properties are carried out in accordance with Property Asset Management Plan.

We manage our assets in terms of assessing ability and delivery capacity to meet current and future demand through the number of applicants and the duration of their time on a waiting list.

Whilst no increase in capacity is presently planned, a very limited amount of government funding is available for upgrading elderly housing and increasing capacity for accommodating the elderly and socially disadvantaged. Otherwise any improvements or increase in capacity would need to be loan funded.