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Parish Plans were devised as a way of empowering local communities to take responsibility for their future. Their aim is to allow a medium term plan to be formulated of what a village should look like; to ascertain those things that work well and maintain them, but also to identify areas for improvement and formulate a plan to enhance them.
To formulate a Parish Plan the first challenge is to engage with the local community to find out what they think about the village in which they live. In Ickleford we have done this via three consultation exercises of increasing complexity. First, we delivered flyers to every house to raise awareness of the Parish Plan and ask two questions; what do you like about Ickleford and what are your main concerns about life in the village. We used the responses from these questions to devise our second consultation exercise – the Open Day that was held in October 2005. (please click here to see the photographs taken on the day). This was incredibly well attended, and residents gave us a very clear indication of their likes and wish-list for the future. This information led to the formulation of the Parish Plan questionnaire which was distributed in March 2006. The terrific response rate of 86% is a testament to the hard work of everyone on the Parish Plan steering committee and our volunteers and also a reflection on the enthusiasm of the residents of Ickleford to build on what is already a great place to live.
Our challenge now is to take the data from the result summaries of each section and put together the plan itself. This will be a series of suggestions based on the points raised in the questionnaire which will be prioritised based on the results and ranked according to their feasibility. Each item will be specific and have a time by which it will be achieved. In this way, the residents of the village will be able to monitor the progress on the implementation of the plan. We hope to have the plan completed and circulate during April 2007.
We also want to find ways of maintaining the dialogue that we have started with the residents. This will enable us to make the Parish Plan a ‘living document' that can grow as the needs and aspirations of the village evolve. We look forward to your continued support and advice as we progress with this exciting venture. If you have any queries or comments regarding the parish plan - please email them to miles.maxewell@icklefordpc.com
Cllr Miles Maxwell - Chairman of the Parish Plan Steering Group
September 2006
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