Healthy Communities

What does this mean?

• Healthy Living: Encouraging and enabling people across all sections of the community to make healthier lifestyle choices in relation to sport, leisure, recreation, travel and work.
• Involving Communities: Making sure local people have the opportunity to get involved in the development of their local communities and the district as a whole.
• Sustainable Neighbourhoods: Ensuring that people take pride in their local neighbourhoods.
• Reducing Health Inequalities: Ensure that all local people can enjoy the same high standard of health and well-being, regardless of the area in which they live.

Why is this important?

• The health of people in Thanet is worse than other districts in the south east and varies significantly between wards: life expectancy in Birchington is 9 years more than in Cliftonville West;
• Adult participation in sport in Thanet is lower than the Kent average;
• The population is changing with significant increases in the number of black and minority ethnic people and also of migrant workers from EU accession countries;
• Satisfaction with the area as a place to live is low compared to other parts of the country;
• A high proportion of local people are dissatisfied with their opportunities to get involved in local decision making;
• A low proportion of local people think that people from different backgrounds get on well together.

How will we measure success?

* to be agreed with PCT and Health and Well-being Group

What are we going to do?

The following projects are the key pieces of work we are going to carry out over the next three years over and above our general day to day activities.

Healthy Living

• Develop a targeted programme for improving play facilities and events across the district (Start: Apr 08 - Finish: Mar 11)
• Implement a three year programme to increase participation in sport across the district (Start: Apr 08 - Finish: Mar 11)
• Improving our swimming pools and associated leisure facilities (Start: Oct 07 - Finish: Mar 11)
• Review accessible leisure space to ensure that it meets the needs of the local community (Start: Mar 08 - Finish: May 09)

Active Citizenship

• Co-ordinate activities for young people across the district to increase young people's involvement in positive activities (Start: Apr 08 - Finish: Mar 11)
• Improve accessibility and transparency of democratic processes through further implementation of the Modern.gov system (Start Apr 09 - Finish: Mar 11)
• Establish the new Parish Council in Ramsgate (Start Apr 09 - Finish: Jun 09)

Sustainable Neighbourhoods

• Work with partners to deliver improved public services in Cliftonville West (Start: Apr 07 - Finish: Mar 10)
• Use the Compact to involve more community and voluntary sector organisations in delivering key community services locally (Start: Apr 09 - Finish: Mar 10)
• Improve the provision of community space/facilities in Ramsgate and Broadstairs (Start: Oct 09 - MFinish: Mar 11)
• Deliver the action plan for the Community Cohesion fund (Start: Aug 09 - Finish: Mar 10)

Health Inequalities

• Work with the PCT to improve the health of residents living in areas of deprivation (Start: Apr 08 - Finish: Mar 10)

Next page: Modern Council

Previous page: Quality Housing

• Foreword
• Thanet's Economy
• Safe Neighbourhoods
• Beautiful Thanet
• Quality Housing
• Healthy Communities

Corporate Improvement Manager

Email: mailto:sophie.chadwick@thanet.gov.uk

Tel: 01843 577180