Town Teams

A Town Team is a representative community-led steering group that oversees and drives the development of a Local Place Plan.

Town Team has a nice ring to it, but the group can be called whatever is appropriate to the community.

It represents the voices and interests of all local residents, businesses and communities who who have a stake in a particular place, and works collaboratively with local and regional government agencies to ensure that the needs of the people from that place are supported and listened to by policy makers and service delivery partners, such as the Community Planning Partnership.

Further information on a  Local Place Plan 

• Representative - of the diversity of the community
• Inclusive - everyone is welcome and there are no bad ideas
• Works collaboratively - listens, joins things together and seeks out suitable partners

The make up of the Team is at the discretion of the community, but in other areas has included representation from:

• Community Councils
• Elected Members
• Development Trusts
• Key Local Groups
• Youth Groups
• Voluntary Organisations
• Private Sector
• Schools
• Further Education

... really anyone with a stake in the betterment of their community.

The main thing is that the Town Team is committed to effective engagement with the whole of their community so everyone can have their voices heard.

Communities may decide that they wish selected local government agencies to be represented to contribute to the Team, or be entirely community focussed with connection back to agencies based on agreed feedback intervals to ensure buy in to developing Local Place Plans and for support with funding, feasibility, planning and other specialist input.

The way a Team comes together is entirely up to the community, and will very much depend on the local landscape, what existing groups there are and the relationships of organisations in the area.

Workshops to discuss the coming together of people can be a helpful way to start the ball rolling. Public meetings can attract people who may not normally get involved, or aren't a part of an organised group.

Teams can be formed and structure in many different ways, with some suggestions being:

• Expanding the remit of an existing group

This could work effectively when there is already a group that represents the whole area, or is in a great position to bring people together to take that inclusive approach to engagement. This will also depend on the capacity and willing of that group to take on the development of a Plan.

• Umbrella structure co-ordinating existing groups

This arrangement looks to one group as the leader driving the process and bringing other organisations in to contribute and help shape the plan. It relies on the lead group taking responsibility for bringing people to the table and ensuring the groups involved are representative.

• Collaborative structure working as a local partnership

This approach gives everyone at the table an equal responsibility for driving the Plan and committing to work together for the common purpose. It relies on relationships, and acceptance that everyone's opinions are valid.

• New, special purpose, local organisation

Forming an entirely new Team allows the group to start fresh with the goal of the Plan as the main objective. It could become a constituted entity, but it doesn't need to be, the main thing is it looks for membership to represent a cross section of the place.

However the Team is structured, it is important that the group agrees a "Memorandum of Understanding" or "Terms of Reference" with the Local Authority. This is just a document setting out what the group is about, and how it intends to go about developing a Plan and ensuring that it represents everyone with a stake in that place.

Support is available to help the Team get started.

A package of support is available for communities assembling their Town Team.

Officer from Scottish Borders Council, South of Scotland Enterprise, Borders Third Sector Interface and other Community Planning Partners are already actively working in the community to promote and encourage communities in Place Making activity.

A structure of operational support is in place for Teams embarking on developing Local Place Plans.

See  Support  for further details.

Teams may seek funding to purchase support through the Place Making Consultancy Framework which was developed collaboratively with representatives of community working groups to provide experienced people to build capacity and support Teams.

The framework is set up to enable Teams to choose a partner suited to help deliver their ambitions for their community, select as much or as little help as they need, with profiles for each company available to demonstrate their approach and style.

See  Place Making Support Framework .

In any Team structure this is likely to be three broad roles:

• Rowing - driving the process
• Steering - contributing to, and guiding the process
• Cheering - contributing to, and promoting the process

Within those three groups of roles there are a number of different roles that all contribute to the effectiveness of the Team. These could include:

• Chairperson
• Facilitators
• Storytellers and Copywriters
• Admin
• Communications, Marketing and Promotion
• Social Media
• Photography, Graphics and Illustration
• and many anything other skills that the community can offer to help shape their Plan.

Looking at the local skill sets and encouraging those with specialisms and talents to come forward builds capacity within the community, and fosters ownership of the Plan as a locally developed piece of work which showcases what the Team can do.

And for anything else, or specialist and technical support, there are people to help.

The Team may evolve and membership change as the process moves on, and the skills required at the different steps change.

The Team is not here to deliver projects (although they may want to see them through!) - there role is to bring together the Plan that identifies what is needed, and creates a pipeline of projects that are ready to go when funding and resource becomes available.

Teams of people all over Scotland, the UK and overseas are coming together to embark on Place Making projects. See below some examples of how this is working elsewhere.

Neilston Town Team, East Renfrewshire, Scotland

The Development Trust, and a network of community groups, together with the Local Authority and Community Planning Partners formed the Neilston Town Team, which worked together to shape a vision and investment plan for the future of the village.

The work was recognised in national awards for community engagement.

Selby Urban Renaissance, Yorkshire, UK

The Yorkshire Urban Renaissance was a Regional Economic Development programme focused on regenerating towns.

The programme was supported by a network of Town Teams, who agreed to work together, confirming the commitment to collaborate in a ‘Charter’, which informed masterplans, investment plans and implementation strategies.

Dalton Town Team, Cumbria, UK

Dalton is a part of the Borderlands Place Programme where a Town Team was formed to help shape the Place Plan for the town, as a requirement of the fund.

The Plan sets out who is on the Town Team, how they worked and how the Team shaped the plan proposals. This plan was developed as a precursor to a Town Investment Plan, which is also a requirement of the fund.

Dalton is one of the early adopters within the Borderlands Place Programme and lessons learned from these towns can be shared with other Borderlands Towns to help guide their process.

Cricklewood Town Team, UK

Following the Mary Portas review of town centres, UK Government funded a network of Town Teams to shape local priorities for change.

The Cricklewood Town Team was established initially by a group leading on Homelessness and over time, has built a team around all voices, faiths and partners in the community to focus on actions to improve life in the place.

Dublin, Ireland: Co-designing neighbourhood change

Working with a network of local communities, activists and partners, Dublin City Council facilitated a Town Team model for an urban neighbourhood. This built on the work of the community led Community Assistance Team [CAT] of the American Institute of Architects.

The process and output of this approach to co-design are captured in this report.

Wicklow Town Team, Ireland

Wicklow is a town south of Dublin, a large rural town serving local communities but also a key place within the wider city region. To support the regeneration and economic development of the town to serve community needs a Town Team was formed, shaping a plan for investment and collaboration for the future of the place.

The Town Team Movement, USA

The Town Teams movement is a US based social enterprise supporting communities to lead change.

The Movement has built a resource of tools and tips on Town Teams, how they form, what they do, and examples of Town Team led projects.

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