Message from the Chairman
David Fryer-Kelsey
An opportunity to shape your future
There is a revolution going on in local government and parish councils are at the core of it. The Government wants local communities to take more control of their own lives, to say what they want doing in their own neighbourhoods and to engage with other powers to get it done.
This means an opportunity for everyone in your community to make themselves heard. An opportunity for you to say if you want more open spaces, more effective public transport, affordable housing, better access to health care, a chance to buy local food at local shops, and to choose how your community helps everyone in it to relax and make the most of their social and leisure time.
A Parish Plan will help you find out what your local community wants and work out how to deliver it.
What is a Parish Plan?
Parish Plans are "holistic" or comprehensive in scope. They should set out a vision for how the community wants to develop, and identify the action needed to achieve it. They can include everything that is relevant to the people who live and work in the community, from employment and playgrounds to the design of new buildings and protection of hedges and ponds. They can include any social, environmental or economic issues. It is up to you, the community to decide, what is important to you.
Parish Plans have the potential to influence a wide range of organisations and processes which affect the lives of rural communities. They should complement and help deliver local planning policies and frameworks. They should influence local housing and land management strategies. They should also contribute to the way local services are managed and delivered.
A Parish Plan is a statement of how the community sees itself developing over the next few years. It:
- reflects the views of all sections of the community;
- identifies which features and local characteristics people value;
- identifies local problems and opportunities;
- spells out how residents want the community to develop in the future;
- prepares a plan of action to achieve this vision.
Who decides?
The Parish Plan gives everyone a chance to say what they think about the social, economic and environmental issues affecting their community, and how they’d like to see it improved in the future. It is important that the whole community is involved in producing the plan, not just those people who usually come along to parish council meetings.
What’s it leading to?
The Parish Plan needs to consider local problems and opportunities as a whole. It makes the links between these issues and sets out a broad vision for the future – where the parish wants to be in 5 or 10 years time. But achieving this vision will require action. This includes both:
- action which the parish itself proposes to undertake;
- policies, decisions and action carried out by other bodies which the plan might influence.
It’s worth the effort!
Drawing up a Parish Plan offers a great opportunity to bring together everyone in the community to work together and decide where the parish is going in future. It will take time, energy and commitment.
But it will be time well spent.
Please be prepared to make the effort.
Thank you.
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