Description: The City Partnership Board (CPB) has been tasked with helping the people of Derry/Londonderry formulate a 25 year 'Vision'. "The Vision will seek to identify the challenges confronting Derry and begin a community dialogue about the nature of those challenges and the actions which should be taken to meet them." (Quotation from the leaflet YOUR CITY, YOUR FUTURE, YOUR VISION - A copy of which has been mailed to every home in Derry). The project aims to facilitate a City Vision process, but will also focus on what happens after that vision becomes clear. The CPB, with its combination of community innovators, (Glen Barr and Paddy Doherty), business leaders, (John McGinnis, Luke Hasson and Michael Caulfield), has the potential to change the entire social fabric and physical regeneration of our City. The Board enjoys the full participation and support of the North West Community Network and the Ulster Community Action Network, the two largest and most representative community network bodies in the City. The project is unique also in that it is the first time any town or city in Northern Ireland has engaged in such a vision process and has established a fully representative partnership to deliver the vision. The directors are drawn from every sector of life in the City and includes members of all the main political parties: SDLP, DUP, Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein. The board is chaired jointly by the Mayor of Derry City Council and the Permanent Secretary of the DOE. The initial part of the project involves the production of a Vision Statement. This requires the board to facilitate public understanding, ownership of and participation in the process. We intend to achieve this objective by engaging in what we believe will be the largest public consultation process ever undertaken in Northern Ireland. This consultation aims to stimulate discussion through public meetings, seminars, workshops and conferences in order to identify the key themes which should be addressed in the Vision. Every citizen of Derry/Londonderry will be given an opportunity to participate and for the first time, play a part in shaping the future social and economic development of their city. An initial survey of 31,000 homes has been conducted, the results of which will enable a detailed questionnaire to be designed. This also will issue to every home in the City Council area inviting comments on specific issues and concerns identified earlier in the consultation process. Over the coming months, a number of key organisations will support the process by arranging group discussions among young people, community groups, business leaders and other special interest bodies. A public sector seminar will be held in May 1996 aimed at persuading the heads of Government Departments, Boards and Agencies to both participate in the participation of the vision and to adopt the Vision Statement as a policy document. The information gathered during the consultation process will be presented at a Vision conference in May 1996 at which the Investment in Excellence guru, Lou Tice, will be the keynote speaker. A draft vision statement produced in July 1996 will form the basis of the final stage in this consultation before an agreed Vision document is prepared. At the request of the Secretary of State, the CPB will then oversee the implementation of the Vision for Derry. The CPB has finished its public consultation and deliberation on a Vision for Derry.
The principal benefits resulting from the funding are as follows:
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