Committee shows commitment to developing closer relationship with communities

Looking at ways of improving participation and involvement with communities was on the agenda of yesterday’s Black Isle, Dingwall and Seaforth Area Committee.

Recently community conversations with groups in the 2 wards have taken place and as well as reviewing the feedback from these sessions, Committee members took the opportunity to look forward to the next steps of joint working within the communities and how a closer link between the committee and community can be forged.

The Black Isle, Seaforth and Dingwall conversation was held on 14th September. This session was hosted by Cllr Margaret Davidson Leader of the Council and Cllr Gordon Adam, Chair of Black Isle, Seaforth and Dingwall Committee. Groups in attendance at the Black Isle, Seaforth and Dingwall conversation included Transition Black Isle; Dingwall Noticeboard - Food Share; Cromarty Care Project; Cromarty Community Council; Heights Hub; Kessock Kindness; Dingwall Community Fridge.

Work is ongoing to analyse the feedback from all the various sessions and draw together key messages and learning from across the Highland area. The issues identified from the Black Isle, Dingwall and Seaforth conversation reflect some early themes across many of the conversations such as the importance of local networks, local resilience and concerns over increasing mental health issues, unemployment and poverty. A number of these will be explored in more detail through a survey with all groups but some will also be picked up through further engagement with specific communities of interest e.g. disabled people, care experienced young people, vulnerable families.

Cllr Gordon Adam said: “Improving community involvement and participation is a core strategic priority of the Council. The onset of covid-19 has resulted in an overwhelming surge in local community involvement which presents us with a unique opportunity to change how we work together and to develop positive relationships and improve how decisions are made locally.

“The discussions we had during our committee were very positive and there is a real appetite to build on all the good will and new close working partnerships that have developed as everyone has come together to focus on our Covid response. We can learn a lot from recent experiences and use this to better understand local needs and how to set priorities moving forward.

“Further work is needed to look on how we can meaningfully take things forward so I’m pleased that the committee gave its support to taking part in further sessions with community groups across the area to focus on setting local priorities.”