Village Plan
Steering Group Meeting
Welcome and Introductions
The meeting was chaired by Philip Straw (PS) Carola Jones (CJ) from Rural Community Action Nottingham also attended. Each member of the committee was introduced to the group.
Purpose of the Group
a) The purpose of the group is to establish the Village Plan.
CJ explained to the group what a Village Plan is and distributed some examples of plans completed by other Parish’s. Samples are also available on the Internet.
b) She went on to explain that a village plan can be about:
- Village infrastructure
- “softer” activities eg. Sports clubs, choirs, and luncheon clubs.
- It is to do with issues that face our village
c) A question was raised about whether we need to fund raise. CJ advised that we need to show commitment and community involvement and most funders will expect some type of contribution either monetary or in kind. So Yes we should expect to do some fund raising.
d) It was established that we will need to liaise with other village groups (Thursday club, PCC and W.I. etc) to ensure a cohesive and inclusive plan.
e) CJ advised that the plan should not become a wish list and should:
- Identify how we will do it
- How we will find funding
- Timescales
- Needs to be something that will happen – achievable
- We need to establish priorities
- Be realistic in targets
f) First Project for the group is to develop the plan
The group should not just address the immediate future but what the village may be like in 8-10 years time and take that into account.
Issues
a) A list of possible issues was identified at the public meeting and a detailed list was attached to the agenda for this meeting. PS also added some which had been raised by the Parish Council.
- Village Hall Improvement
A recent report by surveyors had stated that approximately £20,000 would be needed to carry out improvements. The group thought that this was expensive and requested details.
It was established that the hall needs to be used more, be more readily available with less rules and regulations. The idea of establishing a village hall committee was put forward.
- Playground and Village field
- Cemetery
Should there be allotments to the rear of this or perhaps establish a community garden.
- Pub Noise
- Roads and Traffic calming
- Transport – Car Share schemes
- Community Activities/Facilities
- Footpaths
- Communication
- Welcome Pack
- Survey
Constitution
a) A constitution for the group needs to be established and this will detail how we work together and operate. It will detail what authority the steering Group and Parish council has. PS will send an internet link so that members can look at a copy constitution and establish what ours need to contain.
This will be agreed at the next meeting.
- The steering group will be adjunct to the Parish Council and need to get their agreement when taking decisions
- It was agreed that there needs to be 2 way communication between the Parish council and the Steering group.
- The Parish council can access some funding for the village plan
- A volunteer is urgently needed to represent Sutton.
Roles
Also to be agreed at the next meeting are the roles for group members
- Chair
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Publicity Officer
- Volunteer Co-ordinator
- IT – someone to take responsibility for website (if necessary)
All roles are open, at the next meeting people will be asked to nominate themselves and a secret ballot will be held.
The Village Plan Process
- Set up Steering Group and agree what we want to achieve
- Decide how we consult with the rest of the village
No one method alone will be enough
Questionnaires can work well
Could hold an event which includes asking people about the plan
- Feed back to community
- Action planning event: to establish
- Priorities
- Non priorities but would like to see happen
- How do we achieve targets
- Timescales
- Write the plan
- Launch
Timeline
a) CJ suggested a possible timeline starting with the establishment of the Steering Group, consulting over the spring and summer, action planning during October and November and launching the plan around March 2009.
b) There was an extensive discussion about the content of a questionnaire with most agreeing that it should not contain too many questions or allow too much free text so that analysis was easier.
Finance and Budget
Possible sources of finance are:
- Councillor Suthers – a few hundred
- Borough Councillor – John Cranswick
- County Council – Community Engagement Grant – up to £1,000
The question of how much will be needed was raised
To be discussed at next meeting.
PS noted that the Village Hall is available to use free of charge but suggested that the group paid – ensuring that money stayed within the village.
Communications
a) PS requested that all members send him their email address and he will share them among the group. He requested that when sending email between each other they be copied to everyone.
Two members of the group currently have no email access and they will either be sent hard copies or other group members will allow them access.
b) For future meetings formal minutes will be taken
c) PS has several useful links he will distribute to the group via email
d) PS will communicate with those people who agreed to act as general volunteers.
e) PS and Andy Betts will keep the steering group in touch with what happens at Parish Council meetings.
Benchmarking
The group needs to look at what other parish’s have done in relation to their village plans. This will allow us to use other peoples learning . PS is talking to someone in Cropwell Bishop to see what can be learned from them.
Date of Next Meeting
Monday 28th January 7.30 pm
Shirley Taylor gave her apologies in advance.
