Getting Involved in Your Community
Dover District Council is committed to listening to our
residents and finding ways to inform, consult
and involve you in the planning and delivery of council
services, and in the issues that affect the quality-of-life in your
community.
We want to encourage and support residents to become more active
in their community, so you can have your say, take part in
decisions that affect you and make a difference.
We recognise, and value the fact that, many people are already
active in the Dover district, giving up hours of their time to make
life better for themselves, their neighbours and their
communities.
Below you can find out about how you can become more involved
and active in community and the issues that affect you and where
you live.
Active in your community
Being active in your community is about being involved, having
your say on local issues and taking part in decisions that affect
you. It's about people making things happen – becoming actively
involved in tackling the things that need to change around you. As
a result you will be able to improve the quality of life in your
local community.
How do I get more involved?
There are so many ways to become more involved in the
district, both big and small. For example:
Do You ...
- Vote in local elections or take part in surveys?
- Attend community meetings, such as the Dover District
Neighbourhood Forums?
- Help a neighbour with their shopping?
- Recycle?
Are You...
- Involved in community events?
- A volunteer for a charity or group?
- In a Neighbourhood Watch scheme or a member of the residents
group?
- A trustee or school governor?
If you can answer 'YES' to any of the questions above, then you
are already active in your community!
Help us to help you – become active in your community
Only by knowing what you want from us can we work to provide the
best possible services in the district. We need the people we serve
to tell us what they think of the Council and what they think we
can do to further improve our services.
Signpost to ways of getting involved
There are many ways individuals, communities, groups and
organisations can get involved and express their opinions.
The examples below will sign-post you to where you can
find further details - just click on the links.
We hope you find this information useful, please let us know if
there is anything else you think we should include.
Attending your local Dover District Neighbourhood
Forum meetings
|
There are five neighbourhood forums in the Dover District:
- Deal & Walmer
- Dover North
- Dover Town
- Dover West
- Sandwich Area
Representatives from county, district, town and parish councils
attend these meetings. Join us at your local Neighbourhood
Forum and have your say.
|
| Use your
vote |
Are You Ready For
the Local Elections in 2011? If you are not on
the electoral register, you won’t be able to vote. Remember you
need to re-register every year. Make sure you are registered to
vote - find further information on voting and
elections. You can also visit the website of the independent
elections watchdog, the Electoral
Commission.
|
| Contact Your
Councillor |
Councillors are
elected to represent their local community or "ward". Find out who
your local Councillor is. |
| Suggest a Topic for
Scrutiny |
Scrutiny
is holding to account those that are making decisions that affect
our District and making proposals for major projects and
services to improve the District. |
|
Council and
Committee Meetings
|
Details of all
Council meetings, agenda and minutes. |
| Planning
and Development |
Find out
how to comment on planning and development issues:
|
| Local Development
Framework |
The Local
Development Framework is a number of local development
documents outlining how planning will be managed in the
District. Register to be kept informed of progress on the Local
Development Framework. |
| Regeneration |
Find out what
regeneration will mean for the people and the places of Dover
District. You can also keep up to date with key
projects by visiting the Dover Pride website. Dover
Pride is a partnership of business, local and regional
organisations and the people of Dover. |
|
Respond to Surveys &
Consultations
|
Giving us your
views will help us to provide better services. |
| Public
Petitions |
Petitions sent
in to the Council can have positive outcomes that generate debate
or highlight an issue leading to changes. |
| Give us feedback |
Tell us what you
think of the service we provide. We welcome all of
your comments, compliments and complaints. |
|
Freedom of Information
|
Find out how you
can request information held by the Council. |
| Sustainable Community Strategy |
A Sustainable Community Strategy for East Kent, covering
the districts of Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and
Thanet, is being developed by the East Kent Local Strategic Partnership, following
public consultation. Thank you for all your comments and
views, which are shaping this strategy. |
| Kent
Agreement 2 (Local Area Agreement for Kent) |
This sets
out the local priorities that will make Kent a better
place to be. It has been negotiated between central government
and Kent County Council, with other key
partners (through the Kent Partnership). The East Kent Local Strategic
Partnership is developing a Local Action Plan,
setting out how we will contribute to the targets
set. Information on how to become involved will be
available soon. |
| Town
and Parish Councils |
There are 32
parish council's and 3 town councils covering the district. The
town and parish council's provide many local services and, as the
third tier of local government, speak for their communities. |
| Contact your
MP |
Phone, write or
e-mail the Members of Parliament covering the Dover district. |
| Dover District Voluntary and Community Sector
Network and the Dover &
District Compact |
Thanks to an
award from the Big Lottery Fund, a Community Network for
voluntary and community groups in the Dover district has been set
up by CASE
Kent with partners, including DDC. The Community
Network is a vital channel of communication between
the Council and local groups: sign up to be kept
informed. For more details, please call Louise Rogers on 01304
240090 or e-mail louiserogers@casekent.org.uk |
Local
voluntary and community groups
|
You can also express your views through umbrella organisations
such as CASE Kent, the
Dover
District Volunteering Centre and Dover, Deal and
District CAB; as well as other groups and bodies you may belong to,
such as residents associations, village hall committees and senior
citizens forums.
|
Help
others: donate some time by becoming a
volunteer
|
You can make a
difference by volunteering in your local community.
Please contact the Dover District
Volunteering Centre, a registered charity which supports,
promotes and develops
volunteering opportunities within the Dover
District. Address: 26 Victoria Road, Deal, Kent, CT14
7BJ;
Tel: 01304 367898; E-mail: doverdvc@hotmail.com |
| Attend events
in the district |
A
Selection of the Larger Events are also listed on the
White Cliffs Country website. |
| Customer Access Reviews |
We would like to involve local voluntary and community groups in
helping us complete Customer Access Reviews, to improve services
for the benefit of the whole community. These reviews focus on
specific equality strands to highlight where we need to promote
equality of opportunity for a particular group. We will be asking
the Dover District Voluntary and Community Sector Network to help
co-ordinate these for local groups. Please let us know if you are
interested in improving our services.
|
| Partnership
Working |
We work with a
number of different partners and partnerships. Please follow
the link for more details on the key areas of our partnership
working. This covers the East Kent Local Strategic Partnership;
Regeneration and Dover Pride; Local Development Framework;
Community Safety; Dover District Neighbourhood Forums; Community
and the Compact; Local Children's Services Partnerships and Health
and Well-being Partnerships. |
Decisions made by Dover District Council affect all residents in
the district. Your views will be used to inform local
decisions and, in the end, shape the way in which we achieve the
ambitions of the Dover District Council Corporate Plan and
Sustainable Community Strategy.
Use your chance to influence the way your Council works
for you.
Further information
Volunteering for
Civic Roles: Information for employers and employees
The Department for Communities and Local
Government has produced a guidance document (31 March 2010)
providing information about volunteering for a variety of civic
roles to enable people to make informed decisions about whether
they would like to participate in decision making in their
communities. It outlines the benefits for volunteers, employers and
the wider community.
Contact
Tel: 01304 872314
Email: policy@dover.gov.uk
