The strength of community spirit and the importance of looking out for our neighbours was one of the most incredible outcomes of the pandemic. In communities across Cheshire West, the level of volunteering activity was incredible, with local residents stepping up to support people on their street or in their city, town or village.

Our Labour Council supported these efforts through its community response fund, delivering direct support to communities when and wherever it was needed. Maintaining this relationship with the community, voluntary and faith sector as we look to improve our parks and public spaces, or as we focus on helping people with the cost of living crisis will be vital.

This new relationship with communities must be strengthened further, with greater opportunities for involvement in the decisions that affect people’s lives.

What is Labour doing locally?

• Continuing to find ways to involve residents in the local issues that matter to them, including through Council platforms like ‘Participate Now’, which provides a new and interactive approach for local people to have their say.
• Creating an online citizen’s panel from which a large representative sample of local people who are available to answer surveys and participate in focus groups on a regular basis.
• Working with charities, voluntary groups and community organisations to support and improve the coordination of resources and volunteers across the borough.
• Working with communities to review local services, buildings and spaces so we can understand how they support local people and look for opportunities to strengthen community involvement for the benefit of local residents.
• Tackling the national housing crisis by bringing forward new sites for development, including for the construction of new council houses, new homes for rent, new homes for shared ownership and as properties for sale.
• Reducing homelessness by focusing on providing more supported housing, affordable housing and small one-bedroom properties.
• Enabling residents with an interest in developing Community Land Trusts or self-build homes to work together to deliver new homes.
• Publishing accessible data dashboards to help residents visualise the issues we face locally and how services are performing.
• Utilising digital technology to support local people to engage with the democratic process.