What is a Healthcheck?

A Healthcheck is a process designed to help local communities find ways to assess and improve the vitality of their town and surrounding countryside.

A Healthcheck using the Countyside Agency's Toolkit approach:

- allows local people to identify the economic, environmental and social strengths and weaknesses of a rural centre and its surrounding countryside

- helps people identify the impact of changing local circumstances

- is a sound basis for creating an action plan for revitalisation

This healthcheck not only covers the whole settlement and its surrounding countryside, but enables people to look at a wide range of connected issues that affect the quality of life.

The healthcheck consists of a series of worksheets which contain questions about environmental, social and economic issues. Answering the worksheets can lead to a vision for the future of the settlement from which a plan of action can be prepared.