Phase 1—Identifying the strategic issues

At this point you’ll probably want to work with key local and regional organisations to establish the role of accessibility planning within the broader improvements being planned for the area by those groups.

Your aim is to establish support for the process and to take guidance as to what are the strategic areas for future, more detailed and local investigations.

At this stage, the partnership may consist of more senior local organisation leaders (who can take an overview of how social exclusion issues are being tackled across the Local Authority) along with local community organisations (who are able to identify one or two priority issues).

The nature of your area will influence the key factors the partnership wants to focus on, such as:

• Problem topics (e.g. access to work, access to good quality food)


• Problem areas (e.g. recognised deprived neighbourhoods within the local authority)


• Specific population groups (e.g. disabled people)

Next Section ... Who to involve ...