LED and IDP

Overview

• Integrated development planning
• Corporate strategy
• Community participation
• Local economic development
• Youth, gender and disabled development

Integrated development planning

Integrated development planning is an approach to planning that is aimed at involving the municipality and the community in finding the best solutions towards sustainable development.

An Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is a super plan for an area that gives an overall framework for development. It aims to co-ordinate the work of local and other spheres of government in a coherent plan to improve the quality of life for all the people living in an area. It takes into account the existing conditions and problems and resources available for development.

It is a process through which municipalities prepare a strategic development plan that extends over a five-year period. The Bitou IDP is the principal strategic planning instrument that guides and informs all planning, budgeting, management and decision-making processes in the municipality. Through Integrated Development Planning, which necessitates the involvement of all relevant stakeholders, a municipality:

• Identifies its key development priorities
• Formulates a clear vision, mission and values
• Formulates appropriate strategies
• Develops the appropriate organisational structure and systems to realise the vision and mission
• Aligns resources with developmental priorities

In terms of the Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, all municipalities have to undertake an IDP process to produce IDPs. As the IDP is a legislative requirement it has a legal status and it supersedes all other plans that guide development at local government level. In a nutshell, the IDP process entails:

• An assessment of the existing level of development and the identification of key development priorities.
• The vision and mission statements for the long-term flow from the aforesaid, with specific reference to critical developmental and internal transformational needs.
• The development strategies and objectives will be directed at bridging the gap between the existing level of development and the vision and mission.

A very critical phase of the IDP process is to link planning to the municipal budget (i.e. allocation of internal or external funding to the identified projects) because this ensures that the IDP directs the development and implementation of projects.

After approval of this plan by the municipal council, all development and projects must comply with the stipulations of the IDP. All other plans and strategies by the municipality are secondary to the IDP. The IDP is the only overarching plan guiding development in its jurisdiction, and even the budget must comply with the contents of the IDP.

Local Economic Development

After an extensive analysis (Economic Strategy - Strategic Issues and Informants, 2005) of economic potentials, Bitou Municipality identified the following strategic themes to inform its LED strategy:

• Retention, growth and development of local resources and attraction of external resources for investment.
• Plugging the leaks: Resource circulation in local region.
• Institutional systems to facilitate LED.

The Bitou LED Steering Committee, which is representative of the major interests in the local economy, has prioritised proposed interventions and actions to promote the local economy. The focus of the implementation strategy falls on actions prioritised for the first three years of the application of the strategy.
The prioritised interventions, organised by theme, are:

• Human resource development
• Entrepreneur development
• Job creation
• Branding
• Land ownership
• Capital availability
• Nodal development
• Enabling environment

Strategic Support Services

Performance Management System

The Performance Management System, a requirement of the Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, is an essential management system that helps structure internal resources and then monitor and evaluates their effectiveness. This provides the possibility for continuously improving the use of resources. Performance management fulfills, monitors and evaluates the integrated development plans and broader activities of the municipality.

The Council has adopted a performance management system to ensure accountability to our stakeholders, to enhance performance and learning and to ensure our compliance with the Systems Act. In terms of Section 39 (c) of the Act, a municipality is required to submit its Performance Management System to the Council for adoption.

Performance is regularly monitored, measured and reviewed so that corrective action can be implemented. This part of the process is known as “operationalising” and is effected by means of Plan-Do-review (PDR) sessions at the respective management levels. Performance in respect of targets set for Key Performance Indicators supporting the objectives in the Municipal Strategic map is measured at management meetings, overseen by the Municipal Manager.

A revised Business Plan for the Municipality was developed at a strategic session during 2005, and in the interim it has been cascaded to each of the municipality’s services delivery areas.