Cumbria's Sustainable Community Strategy 2008 - 2028 was launched on the 7th July at the Full CSP meeting.  A selection of partners were there to see the launch and to commit to a shared vision.

The Community Strategy has put in place high aspirations for the county and aims to provide focus for making Cumbria the best place to be born and grow up.   We will work towards this vision through focused activity around 5 themes:

• Safe, strong and inclusive communities 
• Health and well-being throughout life 
• A sustainable and prosperous economy 
• Effective connections between people and places 
• World class environmental quality.   

Progress against the Community Strategy outcomes will be a measure of how we work together as a partnership in order to change things for the better and We must concentrate on those things that are most important to the people of Cumbria.  A number of action plans are already in place to support delivery, but further work is ongoing to address gaps and to properly assess our prospects for delivery of the strategy within Cumbria.

The Community Strategy is part of a larger suite of documents, including, the Sub Regional Spatial Strategy, which provides a long term spatial vision and expresses those parts of the Community Strategy that relate to the use and development of land.   The strategy provides the policy framework to support 3 spatial objectives:

• To reduce the dependency for high level services/jobs on towns outside Cumbria
• To increase the viability and complementary nature of key towns and villages throughout Cumbria
• To develop and maintain high quality modern and integrated transport networks.

Other documents in the suite, include:

• The 2008 Local Area Agreement.
• The evidence base, from which all priorities have been identified