Changhua County Magistrate Ming-Ku, Wei and staff has organized the “Resident Community Planner Project”, where a consultation team offers professional consultations and services to the communities in creating green environments and revitalizing unused spaces, thereby increasing the momentum of community building. Changhua County Magistrate Ming-ku Wei, Fuxing Township Mayor Li-sung Nien and others visited Fubao Community in Fuxing Township on the morning of the 16th to observe the community planners’ progress and achievements in transforming the community environment. County Magistrate Wei also participated in the community environment transformation process with the local residents and offered words of encouragement for the community volunteers.
According to County Magistrate Wei, Fubao Community has the largest number of cattle in Changhua County, and the residents are willing to become volunteers under the leadership of the head of village, therefore the county government has located a plot of land through the community planner. With materials procured by the county government and labor supplied by the community, teamwork is applied to transform communities into parks, making them more beautiful.
County Magistrate Wei pointed out that starting from Fubao, it is hoped the Resident Community Planner Project will be spread to more than 500 communities in Changhua County. Moreover, communities may also apply for the project, where the government provides the funding and the community supplies the labor to beautify the environment. If the dairy industry in Fubao can become a community enterprise and further market the businesses within the community, the community’s overall income can be increased. In doing so, everyone involved will be given a job and the community will become self-sufficient.
Fuxing Township Mayor Li-Sung, Nien thanked the county government for its support and Chairman Lin of Taiwan Mirror Glass Enterprise for donating the land. Niuchou Old House was developed by the township office using local development fund from the county government. The most well-known products of Fuxing Township are milk and furniture; community residents have come together to market local industries.
Since assuming office, County Magistrate Wei has strived to promote the creation of community ecological parks in an effort to improve the county’s green coverage ratio. With subsidies from Construction and Planning Agency, Ministry of the Interior’s “Town Image Transformation Project”, Changhua County Government Department of City and Tourism implemented “Resident Community Planner Project”, where professional, enthusiastic consultation team gain a thorough understanding of the local community before providing them with expert consultation and services. As a result, more communities will become involved, and through diverse community talent training courses, participatory workshops, visits to high quality communities and subsidizing communities to hire workers and purchase materials to engage in environmental transformation projects. In this way, the communities not only benefit from greening and revitalization of unused spaces but also improved momentum in building their hometowns, allowing them to showcase their distinctive features.
The “Resident Community Planner Project” mainly assists community residents to reach a consensus and voluntarily present proposals that will be reviewed by the county government; thereafter, selected proposals will be able to hire workers and purchase materials in order to implement environmental greenification and beautification. The key to community building is also to introduce the theme of countryside aesthetics (edible landscaping, friendly environment, habitat creation, regional memory) as well as regional functionalities (disaster prevention or emergency response, senior citizen friendly). In 2017, 28 out of 35 communities that applied for the program received county government approval, subsidizing them to hire workers and purchase materials in order to greenify and beautify the environment.
Accompanied by relevant personnel, County Magistrate Wei toured the communities to see the improvements that were made. By visiting farming villages, he witnessed community volunteers toiling and sweating under the blazing sun. They moved bricks, planted trees and laid turfs without complaint for the betterment of their community thus he was deeply touched by their selfless contributions. After visiting the communities, he discovered there were still plenty of locations awaiting transformation, and “small flower effect” should be applied to continue improving the environment, thereby enhancing the community culture and village environment.
In addition to commending the dedication of staff and volunteers, County Magistrate also wishes to improve community cohesion, improve the community environment and care for senior citizens through the process. Furthermore, he hopes to cater to the needs of the community via implementing county government projects, so that community environments offer both aesthetic and practical functions. Additionally, youths will be encouraged to return to their hometown to participate in the program and inject more vigor to beautify the community.
In the future, apart from engaging more proactively in assisting community-building efforts, it is hoped that more community will join forces to prosper Changhua County’s communities through observation, learning and healthy competitions as well as professional consultation team.
Information courtesy of Changhua County Government official website.