Parish Plan morning

Well I seem to have been busier than ever since the election - a meeting every night last week and three nights this week - I wont have a chance to catch up on all those in this blog - however I did want to cover the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Plan meeting on Saturday morning in the village hall (10 to 1).

Photos: Saturday morning at the Village Hall and the plant stall outside the shop on the same morning - what a great selection of plants!

This meeting or rather a drop-in was a chance for folk to come in and see various displays and say what they think about the Parish - What does it need? What are the problems? Everything was up for discussion from how roadside verges could be managed, making Whiteshill's history more alive, setting up a monthly cinema club in the village hall and accessible, better bus services, renewable energy on the village hall and much more. I have no idea of the final figures but I spoke to many people there and there was a steady flow of people dropping in all morning.

It was back in 1989/91 that the last appraisal was done - much has changed although glancing through the report from that time (see left) many of the same issues are also present like traffic and parking. The Parish Council have not embarked on a Plan for some years - I'm not clear of the reasons why but do have sympathy about the delay - I was involved with Cainscross Parish Plan and learnt lots about how to make them useful - many Plans do not always address issues that they can take forward. Indeed some are little more than a paper exercise - but they can also have powers to attract funding, make developments more sensitive and lead to new local projects.

Randwick Parish Council started their plan a while back - and indeed are in the process of reviewing it and taking it forward - see more about Randwick's plan here - and here about the recent Core Strategy consultation.

Anyway the next stage in Whiteshill and Ruscombe is to establish a core group of individuals to take it forward. It is not too late to join the group or to be part of a particular project team - do call me or one of the Parish councillors to hear more or see how your idea could poss be taken forward.....and don't forget to vote for the Parish councillors on 27th May.

Lastly tonight is the Parish AGM from 7.30 - many local groups will be giving 5 minute presentations - a great chance to hear about what goes on locally. See you there?