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Parish Plan Committee |
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Update January 2006 - The Final Handover |
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The Parish Plan –
The Final Handover- Now the real work begins!
At a special meeting of the parish council just before Christmas Tony Ward, chairman of the Parish Plan steering committee presented the completed Plan to the Parish Council and the members of the public who were in attendance. The large numbers of people present was a mark of the interest that the plan has generated throughout the village.
In his introduction, Tony Ward outlined the background to The Parish Plan which had been started in response to an initiative set up by central government back in 2000. In King’s Somborne the steering committee was formed following a public meeting in 2004 and it has taken the group of volunteers some 2 years of hard work to produce the final plan which, it is understood, is only one of only 9 to have been completed in the whole of Hampshire.
The aim of the Parish plan was to involve the whole community in addressing the issues affecting the quality of life in the village. The last time such a study was undertaken was back in 1980. Since that time the village has developed and changed. In his presentation Tony Ward highlighted some of the differences- not least of which was that some 60% of the current residents were not in the village at that time!
The plan addresses most of the concerns raised by residents at the various events in which the steering committee participated in over the two years but primarily those raised through the responses to the questionnaire circulated at the end of 2004. It goes on to highlight where further work needs to be done as well as suggesting solutions, or options, for implementation. Some of these had been put forward by residents in the questionnaire responses whilst others have come out of research carried out by the committee. Importantly, the plan provides a schedule of timescales and details of the groups or individuals with the responsibility for executing the recommendations.
By its nature The Parish Plan is a very detailed document with many specific ideas. Even so, it has not been possible to include all the individual comments, but where possible ideas have been grouped together to reflect general consensus. The full database of responses and questionnaires would be handed over to the Parish Council and it would be up to them to safeguard the material and to share it with the community in the way it sees fit.
Among the issues highlighted were the following:
• Some 60% of respondents to the questionnaire were prepared to see some new development in the village particular where this was small development for local needs
• 85% of the respondents had significant issues relating to traffic at various locations through the village.
• Improvements to the children’s play equipment were generally suggested as was the provision of a tennis court in the village.
• The management of the village hall was widely praised, but the state of the facilities was a matter of some concern.
• Of the local facilities:
o Retaining the local shops was strongly supported
o The local pubs came in for much criticism but it was felt by taking on board some constructive comments trade could be increased.
o Taxi provision was highlighted as being difficult to find as were plumbers, electricians and window cleaners (business opportunity anyone?)
• The Provision of Fire, Ambulance and Police services came in for mixed comments and these should be passed on to the local authorities to ensure services are maintained or improved where possible.
In formally handing over the plan to the parish council, the work of the steering committee is now over and the difficult part of implementing the recommendations now needs to be taken on by The Parish Council and the other authorities. It was suggested that the plan should be regularly monitored and the people of the Parish really hoped that the effort they have taken in contributions to The Plan would now be translated into actions.
In accepting the plan on behalf of the Parish Council, The Chairman, David Bidwell, thanked the members of the steering committee and in particular Tony ward for the hard work, time and effort that had been put in to the preparation of the Parish Plan and commented that:
……..for the first time the Parish Council now had a clear mandate from the people of The Parish as to the issues that they wanted addressing. It is now up to us to take this forward and to deliver.
The Parish Plan is now being printed and will be circulated to all households in the parish shortly.
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