Community Action Plan
Welcome
This is the place to come to learn about the Craignish Community Action Plan (CAP).
Looking for the survey? You can find it here or use the QR code at the end of this page.
Want more info? Read on!
What is a CAP?
A Community Action Plan (CAP) is a formal, locally-driven document that outlines the priorities, needs, and aspirations of a community in Scotland. It serves as a roadmap for local development, improvement, and engagement, produced with input from residents, local organisations, and stakeholders.
You can read more about CAPs here
Why do we need a CAP?
A CAP is essentially a roadmap that identifies local priorities, challenges, and opportunities, and then lays out practical steps to address them. Here’s why Craignish might need one:
Address Local Needs Effectively
Guide Future Development
Attract Funding and Partnerships
Improve Resilience
Monitor Progress Over Time
In short, a Community Action Plan turns ideas and concerns into a structured plan with actionable steps, helping Craignish thrive socially, economically, and environmentally.
Who develops it?
We all do! At the heart of the CAP is ensuring everyone is involved, and all voices are heard.
Everyone is invited to contribute in whatever way we’re able. That might be simply filling out a survey to share their thoughts and opinions, to getting more involved in promoting and supporting the development of the CAP itself.
You can choose to be as involved – or otherwise – as you like. You can dip in and out of the process too – a long-term commitment isn’t needed.
To get involved, or learn more, get in touch
Who’s involved now?
Some Craignish residents who have volunteered to help make the CAP happen. The group isn’t fixed and is open to new people and voices at any time - please get in touch to find out more or get involved,
The kind of things we’ve been doing so far are:
Is C3 involved?
Craignish Community Company (C3) is Craignish’s Development Trust.
C3 has to have a CAP in place to be a member of the Development Trust Association Scotland, (DTAS), which is a body that supports communities to thrive, through a community-led network and national place-based sustainable action
So, whilst this isn’t a C3 initiative, once the CAP is in place, it will create a mandate for C3 to pursue the identified actions and changes in the CAP on behalf of the community
What’s happened so far?
What happens next?
The survey will be distributed via hard copies or online to every household in Craignish. People who live outwith Craignish, but have an interest in the area (e.g. people who work here, people who live very close by but outside of the parish boundaries, holiday/second home owners etc) are also free to complete it if they choose.
There’ll be help completing the survey for those that would like it – local community member volunteers will be available if you want or need any help.
We’ll also hold events and drop-ins across Craignish for people to complete the survey.
Once the survey is complete, the data will be analysed (also by local volunteers with experience in this field) and the community’s overarching priorities will hopefully become clear.
From here, we’ll work together as a community to decide how we want to ensure the plan is put into action. For example, if the survey says that we’d like better footpaths across Craignish, those interested in this topic might get together to work out what that will look like.
We’ll have further opportunities to come together as a community to chat about the survey outcomes and how we might want to take them forward.
Examples of other local CAPs can be found here:
Campbeltown
Inverary
North & Central Mull Community Development Plan | Mull and Iona Community Trust
Ford
How can I keep up to date with what’s happening?
We’ll keep sharing information on this website and on the Craignish Community Facebook page, as well as on noticeboards around the area
Make sure to check back regularly – and do get in touch if there’s anything you want to add or ask
Looking for the survey? You can find it here or use the QR code at the end of this page.
Want more info? Read on!
What is a CAP?
A Community Action Plan (CAP) is a formal, locally-driven document that outlines the priorities, needs, and aspirations of a community in Scotland. It serves as a roadmap for local development, improvement, and engagement, produced with input from residents, local organisations, and stakeholders.
You can read more about CAPs here
Why do we need a CAP?
A CAP is essentially a roadmap that identifies local priorities, challenges, and opportunities, and then lays out practical steps to address them. Here’s why Craignish might need one:
Address Local Needs Effectively
- Every community has unique challenges—such as infrastructure, environmental concerns, access to services, or social programs. A CAP ensures these issues are formally identified and prioritised.
- For example, if Craignish has limited recreational facilities or concerns about coastal erosion, a CAP can focus resources where they’re most needed
- A CAP is developed with community input, giving residents a voice in shaping their environment.
- This engagement fosters a sense of ownership, strengthens community cohesion, and ensures solutions reflect local values and priorities.
Guide Future Development
- It helps the community plan for sustainable growth—whether that’s housing, tourism, local business support, or environmental protection.
- Without a plan, development may be haphazard or conflict with the community’s character.
Attract Funding and Partnerships
- Governments, nonprofits, and grant programs often prefer communities with a clear action plan, because it shows organisation and foresight.
- A CAP can make Craignish more competitive in securing resources for projects like infrastructure upgrades, environmental programs, or cultural initiatives.
Improve Resilience
- A CAP can include strategies for dealing with emergencies, climate change, or economic shifts.
- For coastal or rural communities like Craignish, resilience planning is vital for protecting both people and local economies.
Monitor Progress Over Time
- It establishes benchmarks and timelines, making it easier to track whether initiatives are succeeding and adapt strategies if needed.
In short, a Community Action Plan turns ideas and concerns into a structured plan with actionable steps, helping Craignish thrive socially, economically, and environmentally.
Who develops it?
We all do! At the heart of the CAP is ensuring everyone is involved, and all voices are heard.
Everyone is invited to contribute in whatever way we’re able. That might be simply filling out a survey to share their thoughts and opinions, to getting more involved in promoting and supporting the development of the CAP itself.
You can choose to be as involved – or otherwise – as you like. You can dip in and out of the process too – a long-term commitment isn’t needed.
To get involved, or learn more, get in touch
Who’s involved now?
Some Craignish residents who have volunteered to help make the CAP happen. The group isn’t fixed and is open to new people and voices at any time - please get in touch to find out more or get involved,
The kind of things we’ve been doing so far are:
- Designing flyers and leaflets to promote the CAP
- Consulting with the wider community on the questions we’d all like to see in the initial survey
- Helping to get the word out, by chatting to friends and neighbours about the CAP
- Making tea 😊
Is C3 involved?
Craignish Community Company (C3) is Craignish’s Development Trust.
C3 has to have a CAP in place to be a member of the Development Trust Association Scotland, (DTAS), which is a body that supports communities to thrive, through a community-led network and national place-based sustainable action
So, whilst this isn’t a C3 initiative, once the CAP is in place, it will create a mandate for C3 to pursue the identified actions and changes in the CAP on behalf of the community
What’s happened so far?
- C3 was approached by a member of the community, suggesting we look into having a CAP. This was due to a perceived fragmentation of our community, caused by COVID and issues around accessing our local pubs
- C3 asked the community if it wanted to have a CAP at an open meeting. We were told what a CAP is and how it might benefit us as a community. There were around 45 people there and everyone agreed a CAP would be a good idea
- A number of people volunteered to help out and have met over several months to create a roadmap for the CAP, as well as draft an initial survey that will go out to everyone resident in Craignish
- Once the first draft of the survey was complete, there were several gatherings, in person and online, to get feedback on the questions. We think we got feedback from around 100 people through this process – around 25% of our population
- The survey feedback was gone through and the survey was adapted accordingly.
What happens next?
The survey will be distributed via hard copies or online to every household in Craignish. People who live outwith Craignish, but have an interest in the area (e.g. people who work here, people who live very close by but outside of the parish boundaries, holiday/second home owners etc) are also free to complete it if they choose.
There’ll be help completing the survey for those that would like it – local community member volunteers will be available if you want or need any help.
We’ll also hold events and drop-ins across Craignish for people to complete the survey.
Once the survey is complete, the data will be analysed (also by local volunteers with experience in this field) and the community’s overarching priorities will hopefully become clear.
From here, we’ll work together as a community to decide how we want to ensure the plan is put into action. For example, if the survey says that we’d like better footpaths across Craignish, those interested in this topic might get together to work out what that will look like.
We’ll have further opportunities to come together as a community to chat about the survey outcomes and how we might want to take them forward.
Examples of other local CAPs can be found here:
Campbeltown
Inverary
North & Central Mull Community Development Plan | Mull and Iona Community Trust
Ford
How can I keep up to date with what’s happening?
We’ll keep sharing information on this website and on the Craignish Community Facebook page, as well as on noticeboards around the area
Make sure to check back regularly – and do get in touch if there’s anything you want to add or ask
