Launch of Randwick Parish Plan

Sunday night Randwick Village Hall was abuzz with life: the Parish Plan launch. Parish, District and County councillors were all there and all said a few words - my words were largely to congratulate the huge amount of work that has gone into it - I have been involved with the Cainscross Parish Plan - still not published so know how much work is involved in one of these - I suspect few people really know - it really is vast. Now the fun begins and we can start aiming to make the plan become a reality.

Oh I forgot to mention David Drew MP arrived late for the proceedings and missed the chance to talk - all suspected a political crisis but we learnt that he was rescuing a baby hedgehog from some netting! We are in many ways very fortunate to have David as our MP - he is tireless in his support for community events. He is also more 'green' than most MPs and one of the first to champion issues like climate change - such a great pity he supports Tony Blair's Labour party, ID cards, nuclear power, the war in Afghanistan, PFI privatisation of our health service and more. Also Labour's policies are incompatible with dealing with climate change - it is no wonder emissions are still on the rise - our current economic policies urgently need changing - they are wholly unsustainable - sadly Greens are virtually the only ones who understand that we cannot continue to have economic growth...Read more here and here.

Anyway I didn't mean to get side-tracked there - all Randwick householders should get a leaflet summary version (see picture above) of the Parish Plan through their doors but the full version is many pages of work - it is now online here. Once again huge congratulations to all who got the plan out - a huge success.

Anyway the speeches were over quick and we were able to enjoy a wonderful buffet - it may have been a Sunday night but it was no sacrifice when we are welcomed so well - thanks also to all involved with the catering.

What is a Parish Plan? What, in all aspects, the residents of a parish believe they would like to see happen to their parish in the foreseeable future. When a parish has an agreed plan to action, the parish council and other authorities are well placed to represent the views of the parish in obtaining funding and other assistance that may be necessary to provide the changes and improvements that the proposals specify.

Who created the Parish Plan? The people of the parish create the plan by feeding their ideas and suggestions into a co-ordinating committee which was supported by Randwick Parish Council and supplemented by other members of the parish who contributed particular skills or help. Over 50% of householders had an input into this plan!

What happens next? The Parish will begin to look at how the various key projects can be taken forward. Lots of help will be very welcomed!