A Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) creates a long-term, sustainable vision in an area and sets the agenda for priorities in the local area agreement. It is produced by a body of local public agencies, community groups and businesses known as the Local Strategic Partnership. Further draft guidance on creating strong, safe and prosperous communities has been published by CLG.

The Local Area Agreement and Multi Area Agreement deliver the sustainable community strategy by using a balance of social, economic and environmental indicators that have been agreed in partnership. These indicators are based on a clear understanding of the key issues for an area.

The SCS should lay the foundations for ensuring culture and sport provision so that they can be included in the local development framework.

You can find examples of LDF core strategy policy work in the Strategic and Local Development Plan Policies section of the toolkit.

You can find examples of LDF supplementary planning documents for culture and sport contributions in the Supplementary Planning Documents section of the toolkit.

Links to further guidance and advice

Planning Policy Statement 12: Local Spatial Planning, 2008
Planning Advisory Service’s (PAS) Plan Making Manual
DCLG, Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities: Statutory Guidance, 2008
DCLG, Infrastructure Delivery: Spatial Plans in Practice - Supporting the reform of local planning, 2008
DCLG information on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

Improvement and Development Agency for local government (I&DeA) provides further information on local place-shaping planning documents.

You can get a toolkit for culture and sport planning in local area agreements from the South East Cultural Observatory.

You can get government advice for integrating cultural strategies in sustainable community strategies from DCMS’s guidance on integrating cultural and community strategies.