About The Three Rivers Partnership
COMMUNITY Our Focus
INTEGRITY Our Behaviour
RATIONALITY Our Approach
Who are we?
Three Rivers is the officially recognised Community Partnership for Gillingham and the surrounding parishes.
It is a Charitable Company, limited by guarantee, run by volunteers from the Gillingham area.
It is accountable to a local membership approaching 500.
The organisational structure is here.
What is our purpose?
We were established in 2003 to:
- Articulate, develop and promote the community's vision for the town and the surrounding area
- Address public concerns about Open Spaces and Gillingham's inadequate community facilities
What have we been doing?
- Developed a comprehensive Action Plan which has been endorsed by Gillingham Town Council and incorporated into NDDC's Community Planning Strategy
- Engaged with the Dorset Strategic Partnership, GTC, NDDC, local parish councils and the other Market Town partnerships to develop strategies to enhance the quality of life for residents
- Became active in developing plans to replace the current Leisure Centre by setting up a joint Working Party with residents, Town Council and NDDC
- Carried out extensive and robust Market Research
In 2005 we
- Produced a comprehensive and authoritative Open Spaces Report, endorsed by GTC and intended to become a part of the emerging Local Development Framework
- Initiated a number of projects, arising out of the report, which have brought positive benefits to the community
- Produced a comprehensive register of Meeting Places in the area
- Worked with Connexions and the Youth Service to survey the needs of young people locally and identify deficits in provision. The evidence gathered was a key contribution to the Garage Project, recently opened.
In 2006 we
- Engaged professional help to restructure the Partnership and build the capability needed to take charge of complex issues and deliver intelligent solutions
- Accepted leadership of the Community Facilities project
- Appointed and worked alongside specialist consultants, developing design concepts and business plans for a number of possible options
In 2007 we
- Implemented restructuring and development of the 3RP Board
- Updated the Gillingham Area Action Plan
- Set up a Land Trust to hold land transfers to the Community and established a charitable company to manage Open Spaces projects
- Set up a charitable company to develop and manage the Community Facilities project
- Commissioned a detailed Feasibility Study in relation to the two options on show today
- Worked closely with GTC and NDDC to explain Local Delivery to the public through recent roadshows and to develop fair, economic and workable plans to enable discretionary services to continue after District Council funding is withdrawn