Planning Mentoring Scheme 

• Planning Mentoring Scheme
• Planning for Community Developments - practical guide

Planning Mentoring Scheme

The Planning Mentoring Scheme is a new programme, funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Supporting Voluntary Action (SVA), linking Planning Aid for Scotland (PAS) with CVS organisations and third sector "Interfaces". This will provide planning advice and guidance to community led development projects across rural Scotland. The pilot has now come to a end and has led to the publication of a practical guide for community-led development.

Key to the Planning Mentoring Scheme was PAS' role in helping empower people in an independent and impartial way. The scheme was designed to guide and provide technical expertise to community led projects across rural Scotland at different stages of their development. The PAS network of volunteers provided guidance and advice, demonstrating a positive side of planning that allows communities to shape their own neighbourhoods.

The programme provided for sustained collaborative working by all stakeholders to facilitate active engagement by CVSs in the planning system. It assisted in developing projects that are put forward by community groups and CVSs, and owned by them, to enhance their asset base and leave transferable skills in communities.

The scheme has contributed to the emerging agenda of supporting sustainable economic growth, ensuring that the planning system has an enabling role. It demonstrated how the Interface organisations and others can harness their creativity to create sustainable and lasting legacies in their communities.

Planning Mentoring Scheme's 4 key aims:

a) demonstrate how community groups and CVSs can participate in shaping their environment and achieve positive outcomes by working closely with PAS over a longer period of time.

b) provide an opportunity for planning professionals to increase awareness and understanding of how to best engage with CVSs.

c) help community groups and CVSs to enhance and deepen their understanding of how to work positively with the planning system and deliver their objectives.

d) link planning mentors with community groups and CVSs to build capacities and share knowledge across Scotland.

As we move forward towards cultural change in a modernised planning system this scheme will make a significant contribution.

The PAS Mentoring scheme was funded by the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland, through the Supporting Voluntary Action Programme, being administered by SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations).