Whiteshill children present inspiring vision for village

Last night at the Parish Council three of the school children presented their vision for the 'Village Green' - that triangle of land near the pub (see photo).

The presentation was excellent - using images they had collected we were led through a high standard Powerpoint presentation by the children. Clearly lots of thought had gone into the work and Parish councillors were keen to take on board many of the ideas.

Some of the issues children raised included the current very poor access for wheelchairs (the need to lower pavement in places), the need to replace the terrible tarmac and concern to be protected from speeding cars along the road (possibly by railings that could also double in someway as a game).

Other wishes:

- interesting benches
- sculpture and mosaics
- a drinking fountain
- more flowers and pots
- fruit trees
- blackberry and raspberry bushes
- a water fountain, possibly running over a sculpture
- bird feeders and more wildlife encouraged
- grass

A sub-committee of the Parish is looking at how to improve the 'Village Green' and agreed to look at the ideas.

After the presentation and a few questions we then got an impressive 5 minute DVD prepared by Class 2 looking at how to improve the playground. Again there were many wonderful ideas: new slide and swings, a water slide, new poles, a rope swing, new benches, an archway, repairing the fence, more colour on the equipment and fences, flowers and more.

The Parish thanked the school very much for their ideas - it was noted the equipment had passed all it's safety tests, that bright colours may look out of place in the rural location and that looking old didn't mean that we should replace it! However they were keen to explore some of the childrens ideas and agreed to consider the ideas properly at a later meeting. They also approved funding for the fence repair.

To me it was inspiring to see the school and Parish looking at how to engage children with our democracy - hopefully showing how you can make a difference. Great stuff - looking forward to the next step!