Typical Open Day Handout Ref 1/3

Shaping our future together

Your village – Your voice

Interested members of the community / the Parish Council were involved in arranging this day to start a process of consultation and appraisal throughout your community and gain your approval to do so. From the issues raised by the community, action plans and strategies will be formulated in order to promote or improve the social, economic and environmental wellbeing and quality of life for all and achieve sustainable development for the future.

The overall process involves

Establishing a steering group

This steering group needs to be representative of different groups in the village. A maximum of 10 members is best. The steering Group would not do the work necessarily but would co-ordinate the work. All groups, organisations and sectors of the community need to be involved and consulted but not all need to be represented on the steering group.

Opening consultation and approval

An initial community consultation that will provide the basis for the next step.

Carrying out an inclusive consultation

Obtaining the views and participation from all sections of the community is very important in this phase in the process. It will involve research, questionnaires, interviews, analysis and preparation of a report.

Formulating of action plans and strategies for the final plan

This phase will create opportunities to establish local partnerships between local groups, organisations, agencies and local authorities. It will establish initiatives to tackle agreed actions. It will also seek funding both locally and nationally to improve opportunities in the economic sector, a better quality of life in our community and a sustainable and secure environment.

Finally publishing the final plan and implementing the actions

In this opening consultation we are seeking to find out the aspirations, needs and priorities of your community.

In order to do this we invite you to write down the values of and challenges for ‘Great Barford’ on separate “Post-it” notes and place them under the headings - Social, Economic, Environmental, Transport and New Activities on the boards around the room.

Please write clearly and with minimum detail. If you want to give us extra detail on a particular issue please use the additional sheet provided.

You may want to place the same issue under one or more of the headings, in which case please use additional “Post-it” notes.

Topics to think about

SOCIAL - Community facilities Vandalism

Primary health care

Play and recreation

Drugs

Youth facilities

Leisure facilities

Community safety

Law and order

Education

Housing older people

Affordable housing

Volunteering and citizenship

Community services (advice & help)

ECONOMIC

Local employment Development

Shops

Skills

Access and public transport

Broadband

Parking

ENVIRONMENTAL

Pollution and tipping

Street lighting

Design issues

Traffic & parking Speeding

Recycling

Landscape protection Conservation

Protecting wildlife Access to countryside / footpaths

Litter and dog mess

Housing

NEW ACTIVITIES

Access to local farm produce Support in the forming of new clubs,

Special interest and self help groups.

Weekly informal coffee morning

Community orchard

Youth drama

Community pantomime

Football team

Wildlife area/garden

Neighbourhood Care scheme

IT Facility in hall

Are these groups provided for?

Pre-school children

Parents of young children

Teenagers

Over 60’s

People with hearing, sight, language, or mobility difficulties

Ethnic groups

Carers of house bound relatives

Obviously this list is not exhaustive. Any other ideas are welcome.

Thank you for coming today. We look forward to your participation in this

initial meeting and your commitment to the ongoing process.