About the Community Strategy Review

Overview

The City Together (TCT), the City’s local strategic partnership, is currently reviewing the Community Strategy, A Vision for a World Class City, 2004 – 2014.

A community strategy is a statutory document that sets out the vision for a local area, key challenges, and how these will be met by working together in partnership.

We have made good progress in achieving the things we set out to do in 2004, and the time is now right to review the Community Strategy to ensure it remains fit for purpose, and that we continue to meet the new and emerging challenges that the City faces.

The revised strategy will update the work we have already done. It will help us to enhance what we do over the coming years up to 2014. It will be called a Sustainable Community Strategy to reflect our increasing commitment to developing policies and actions that are sustainable.

The updated strategy will also take into account the impact of the work that The City Together partnership does beyond the Square Mile, such as the three wholesale markets (Billingsgate, Spitalfields and Smithfields) run by the City Corporation.

Our vision

The new strategy represents an ambitious and long-term plan to improve outcomes for the diverse communities in the City of London and the City fringes. Reflecting this focus, the revised strategy includes an amended vision:

‘The City Together will work to support the continued success of the City of London as the world’s leading international and financial centre in a way that meets the needs of its diverse communities and neighbours through the provision on high quality, accessible services and the development of an environment that is safe, clean, sustainable and culturally vibrant.’

We want to hear your views

It is important that our local communities – be they residents, students, workers or businesses – are able to contribute to the discussions around the review of the Community Strategy.

Discussions and debates are taking place with communities across the City, for example, at The City Together Annual Stakeholder Event on 26th September 2007.Between October 22 and November 11 2007 we invited City stakeholders to discuss some of the key challenges we need to address over 2008-2014, and how we should best meet them using The City Together’s consultation blog. Stakeholders were invited to give their views around the five key themes which we believe the strategy must focus on:A World Class City which…

… is competitive and promotes opportunities

… supports our communities

… protects, promotes and enhances the environment

… is vibrant and culturally rich

… is safer and stronger

Timetable for review

The first phase of the review took place from May until the end of November 2007.
It involved researching the current needs and aspirations of our diverse communities,
drawing on the many community consultations and surveys undertaken over the last
three years. This included views gathered at the Annual Stakeholder Event in September 2007
and the information gained through our online consultation. It also drew on the information
that we know through the range of data that we have about the City of London, such as
our 2007 Resident Population Analysis.

March 2008: A consultation draft strategy (4.1MB) has been released on this website for comment,
until 8th May 2008.

July 2008: The final Sustainable Community Strategy will be published.This timetable will enable us to consider what key issues should be addressed in our Local Area Agreement in 2008. An LAA is an agreement with Government, which will set our priorities for improving the quality of life and outcomes for our local communities over a three year period. The LAA will act as out action plan for the new Sustainable Community Strategy.