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Helmdon Parish Plan
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| 9th August 2006
As part of a pathfinder project parish plan representatives from Helmdon, Wappenham and Syresham got together in Wappenham on 8th August to discuss areas of common interest, and to ascertain whether the village's individual parish plans had any shared objectives. Although it is early days this represents a new era of renewed local authority interest in parish plans and could lead to further projects being achieved in the future. Helmdon Parish Plan welcomes the initiative and looks forward to further meetings with its neighbouring villages and SNC. HPP Report to Parish Council - May 2006 The Helmdon Parish Plan was drawn up in July 2004 after widespread consultation with the community. It has helped shape the development and progress of the village and surrounding areas over the last two years. We have celebrated many successes and we feel that we live in a better place for having the plan. Of course, at the same time there have been frustrations, with some action points not progressing as far or as fast as we would like. NEW GROUPS: Three new groups arising from the plan (HAFWEG, Helmdon Presents, and the Parish Paths Group) are now actively making things happen. We have more entertainment, more accessible rights of way, and a better protected countryside as a result. VILLAGE MEETING PLACE: The Parish Plan clearly identified the need for a new village meeting place to augment the existing facilities provided by the Reading Room, the church and the school. This is a huge undertaking and requires joined up thinking from everyone to make sure any new venue meets the needs of all those that might use it. The PPMG sees this action point as its main focus for the coming 12 months. 9th May 2006
The second Helmdon Parish Plan Update was distributed to every household in the village in April 2006. Feedback from the first Update was very positive as residents welcomed knowing what was going on, some of which is necessarily behind-the-scenes. This Update includes news of the new groups arising from the parish plan, and challenges readers to volunteer to move other action points forward. The Update states "Helmdon is lucky to have a lively population, and many individual contributors who are working hard for the benefit of the community. The Parish Council, the School, the Church, and the committees of all the groups and organisations are making decisions that affect you, your family, your quality of life and the environment in which you live. They prefer not to operate in a vacuum, but rather to understand the needs and views of the people they represent; they want to be sure of making the right decisions for the community". You’ll find the contact details of all the local organisations in Talkabout and on www.helmdon.com so why not get in touch with your views and comments. Whether you support or disagree with what’s happening they’ll be glad to hear from you. Don’t moan if you didn’t phone! Article From Talkabout - Spring 2006
When I read it I immediately thought of the Helmdon Parish Plan. The Parish Plan enabled our community to take control, rather than be passive. The community was able to think about its needs and how it would like to develop in the future, and the thirty-six action points arising from the consultation (for details, see the Autumn 2005 edition of Talkabout, or the web site) set out, in writing, how we would go about achieving that. And working with the Parish Plan has certainly been pleasing, satisfying - and fun! It was pleasing to go the first public event put on by Helmdon Presents, the new culture group arising from the Parish Plan, which was the staging of a production of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads in the church. It was pleasing to look around at everyone enjoying themselves, in their own community, and realise that the Helmdon Parish Plan was, in part, responsible. It was satisfying to walk along the path from Shortlands field up to the churchyard with my dog Mojo recently, a path that was cleared over the summer in a joint activity between two new parish plan organisations, HAFWEG and the Parish Paths Group. Normally this path would be narrow and overgrown but it is now wide enough to walk along comfortably and safely and, again, I realised that the Helmdon Parish Plan was, in part, responsible. It was fun to spend an afternoon in the autumn fishing for wildlife in the Helmdon brook with two officers from the Environment Agency. HAFWEG has an on going project to conserve and protect Helmdon's tiny waterway and the first step was to ascertain the current health of the brook by surveying it. I'm sure HAFWEG will want to communicate the results, so I won't steal their thunder here, but suffice it to say that the future looks bright for the Helmdon brook and I realised that the Helmdon Parish Plan was, in part, responsible. Of course the Parish Plan is not the be all and end all. Some of these things may have eventually happened on their own; after all, Helmdon is blessed with lots of very active and community-minded individuals. But taking control, rather than being passive, has meant they are happening now, and benefiting the community now. A parish plan should not be an end in itself. It represents an opportunity for a community to make realistic recommendations, take them forward and follow their progress. The Parish Plan is a footpath to the future of Helmdon. You can make a comment anytime about the Parish Plan by visiting the village web site at www.helmdon.com/parishplan, e-mailing parishplan@helmdon.com or by telephoning 01295 768090. Danny Moody Chairman, Helmdon Parish Plan. 27th August 2005
And the parish paths group is not all. Helmdon's newest organisation is "Helmdon Presents", a group that was set up in response to the need for cultural activities identified in the parish plan. The group hopes to organise theatre trips, film evenings, peripatetic entertainment and maybe even wine tasting. The group's very first event takes place on 26th November in the parish church and is a performance of "Talking Heads" by Alan Bennett by a touring theatre company. Watch the notice boards and web site for more details nearer the time. Although the PPMG has tried hard to keep people updated with the latest news about the parish plan it was felt necessary to try and inform everyone directly as to what was happening. There were still people asking "Whatever happened to the parish plan?", so it was decided to produce an update flyer and deliver it through each door in the parish, which was done on 20th/21st August. A copy of the flyer in pdf format is available here. 25th March 2005 The PPMG (Parish Plan Monitoring Group) held their third meeting on 22nd March 2005 to review progress so far and look at plans for moving forward over the next few months. A lot of progress has been made so far already. Each of the 36 action points in the parish plan has been allocated to a member of the parish plan to ensure that no action point gets forgotten. An update on some of the successes so far follows:
Of course these early successes are just the start. Several other projects are moving forward, most notably the formation of a road safety focus group and a parish paths group. All these things need your support. Please use the "Participate" form to get involved. 17th November 2004 The Helmdon Parish Plan Steering Group held its final meeting on Tuesday 16th November at Leedon Tye in Church Street. The steering group formed in April 2003 to develop a plan for the parish for the next 5 to 10 years under the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages programme. Now, 18 months later, the Helmdon Parish Plan has been published and circulated to all interested parties and so the work of the steering group is complete. The members of the steering group (Danny Moody, Terry Glassett, Cec Harrold, Alex Burnham, John Plunkett, David Brookhouse, Morag Underwood, Lyndsey Glassett and Phil Drage) organised a launch event, a future needs day, a parish-wide survey and a feedback event, all within a year and a half. It was a huge project and hundreds of man hours went in to producing the finished article. However, the end of the steering group is not the end of the story. The members of the steering group felt it essential that another group should be set up to co-ordinate the implementation of the plan. Steering Group chairman Danny Moody said "It would be a travesty if all the hard work and effort that has gone in to producing the parish plan came to nothing. The danger is that the document will sit on a shelf and gather dust unless a group has responsibility for breathing life in to it". To this end the "Parish Plan Monitoring Group" will be set up to carry on where the steering group left off. The role of the PPMG will be to co-ordinate all of the new initiatives arising from the parish plan and report back to the parish council and the village as a whole so that people know what's going on. The first meeting of the PPMG is on Tuesday 23rd November 2004. 15th November 2004
The new wildlife and conservation group aims to promote environmental issues in the parish and encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of the parish's flora and fauna. The idea of setting up such a group was one on the best supported proposals arising from the parish plan. Enthusiasm is very high and many people in the parish are keen to contribute.
17 people attended the inaugural meeting and those people will form the founding committee. Officers were elected, with each role being shadowed by a member of Helmdon's youth. This is a group for all ages, from the very youngest to the very eldest - there will be something for everyone. The group hopes to hold meetings, walks and talks focused on the wildlife around us as well as organise practical conservation projects around the village. The inaugural meeting came up with plenty of ideas, including a survey of all the trees in the parish and a talk on the rare butterflies to be found in the railway cutting. The next committee meeting is planned for late January when some of the proposals can be fleshed out and a programme developed. The parish plan team wish this new group every success! 1st November 2004 The next few weeks are going to very interesting for the Helmdon Parish Plan. The steering group, which has been in existence since April 2003, will hold its final meeting on Tuesday 16th November and will then disband, having delivered the parish plan and met its objectives. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes is the "Parish Plan Monitoring Group", which will effectively take over where the steering group left off. The aims and objectives of the PPMG are set out in its Terms of Reference, but essentially its role is to make sure that the Helmdon Parish Plan comes to life and is not left to gather dust on the shelf. So has anything happened since the final plan was adopted by the parish council in July? The answer, I am happy to report, is yes! One of the best supported action points in the plan was the setting up of a wildlife and conservation group for the parish, and a group of enthusiasts got together on 23rd October to start planning how the group will be set up. The inaugural committee meeting is due to take place on 15th November. If anyone is interested in getting involved with the wildlife group at this stage please contact the parish plan. 30th July 2004 The Helmdon Parish Plan is now a reality. The finished plan was adopted by the parish council at its meeting on 28th July 2004 (see minutes). The plan can now be distributed to interested parties and work can begin on implementing some of the action points. This final step attracted good publicity in the Brackley Post. The paper has charted the progress of the parish plan over the last 2 years. 14th July 2004
A copy of the Report & Action Plan had been circulated around the village the week before and this was an opportunity for people to come together and discuss the issues raised. The meeting was also a chance for people to record their interest in getting involved to help turn the plan in to reality. Over 20 forms were returned which is a good start. If anyone would like to get involved the participation form is now available on-line.
The 36-point Action Plan will provide direction for the village over the next 5 to 10 years. Some things can be achieved very quickly and easily whilst others are more long term. We have looked at the needs of the village and produced a plan to help us meet them. However, the plan will stay on paper and gather dust unless lots of volunteers come forward to help put the plan into action. There is something for everyone, no matter how small or large the commitment. The next step is to submit the completed plan to the parish council for adoption. 7th July 2004 A copy of the Report & Action Plan was circulated to each household in the village this afternoon, along with an invitation letter to the public meeting on 14th July and a volunteer form. The results of the parish questionnaire, conducted in January 2004, have now been posted in full on this web site. 16th June 2004 A "Report & Action Plan" has been drawn up that contains approximately 35 action points for the village to take forward over the coming years. A draft of this report was presented to parish councillors at a meeting in the school on 9th June. The parish plan steering group have decided to hold a public meeting on Wednesday 14th July at 7:30 p.m. in the Reading Room to provide an opportunity for all residents to discuss the parish plan and the resulting action points. We also hope to get volunteers to help turn the plan into reality. A copy of the Report & Action Plan will be circulated to each household in the village a week before the meeting to enable everyone to come fully prepared with their questions and ideas. 30th April 2004
Several ideas are beginning to emerge, and it's already getting quite exciting. The steering group will be meeting again on 19th May 2004 to decide where the priorities lie. It is hoped that a draft plan can be discussed with the parish council before being presented to the village at an open meeting in the early summer. The plan will identify possible actions that will protect and enhance what we already have in Helmdon, or possibly even provide something new. The parish plan will not seek to implement any of the ideas though - it will be up to groups, bodies or, in some cases, individuals to come forward and take up the ideas. Congratulations should go to everyone in the village who took part in the survey and were forthright with their views, opinions and suggestions. All those returning a survey can now feel that they have had a say in the way the village moves over the next 5 - 10 years. 28th March 2004 Due to the phenomenal response to the parish plan survey the parish plan group have been busy sorting and analysing all the data. All the questionnaires were entered in to an on-line survey database at SurveyShack for analysis. 266 houses took part and 499 Individual Surveys were returned. In addition there were 70 Under Elevens questionnaires returned and 40 participation sheets. All this meant that the data from over 35,000 questions had to be entered in to the database and we were lucky that a dedicated team of villagers were able to help with this. The steering group would like to give its thanks to Richard Farquharson, Sue Wadeson, Alex Burnham and John Plunkett. They got through many boxes of matches trying to keep their eyelids open! 8th February 2004
Thanks go to Alex Burnham, Anne Winch, Audrey Forgham, Cec Harrold, Danny Moody, Jane Keys, Jean Spendlove, Joan Hadfield, John Coatsworth, Judy Cairns, Lyndsey Glassett, Marion Burnham, Roger Miles, Terry Glassett, & Wiggy Smith for all their leg work and persistence. The good news is that we had a 75% response rate, which really is highly commendable. Approximately 260 out of 350 residences in the Parish took part. We also attracted good press coverage during the survey. The analysis of all the data has already begun but, given the high response, will take at least 4 weeks to complete. 13th January 2004 A New Year means fresh impetus from the Parish Plan team. The final draft of the questionnaire was printed over the Christmas holidays and has now been distributed to every house in the parish (many thanks to all the volunteers who are helping out). Every single resident of the parish, no matter how old or young, can take part and give their feedback. The questionnaires will be collected during the weekend of the 24th/25th January but can also be posted, if required, to 30, Church Street, Helmdon, Brackley, Northants, NN13 5QJ. This questionnaire represents the first formal consultation of the entire parish, and it is a unique opportunity for everyone to have a say about the future of their community. The steering group are hoping for a very high response rate in order to make the results as statistically representative as possible. Analysis of the results will take a little while but it is the aim of the steering group to feedback to the community as soon as practically possible. 12th December 2003
The Steering Group decided that it would not be a good idea to put the questionnaire out over Christmas, so it is now scheduled for circulation on 10th/11th January 2004. Your questionnaire will be delivered to your house by one of our band of merry volunteers and will be collected 2 weeks later, on the weekend of the 24th/25th. We hope everyone will take part and fill in their questionnaires with due thought and consideration. We are hoping for a response rate as close to 100% as possible so now it's over to you, the residents of Helmdon! Finally, all the people involved with the Parish Plan would like to wish everyone in Helmdon a very merry Christmas! 18th September 2003 The Steering Group met last night, flushed with success after the Future Needs Day and eager to proceed to the next stage of the process, that being the Parish Questionnaire. Based on the feedback from the FND a questionnaire will be put together which will get to the heart of the matter and put flesh on the bones of the comments received in August. The questionnaire will be given to every resident in the parish of Helmdon, which includes Falcutt, Astwell and all the outlying farms and properties. It is hoped that the questionnaire will be ready for circulation by the end of the year or beginning of 2004. 4th August 2003 The Future Needs Day, held on Saturday August 2nd was a big success with over 200 people in attendance to give their views, thoughts and ideas. Read the special report >>> 30th July 2003
Only 3 days to go until the Future Needs Day at the school, which takes place on Saturday August 2nd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. It promises to be a great day judging by all the work and effort that has been put in by the steering group and the 6 topic groups. It is a measure of the enthusiasm for the project in Helmdon. The main part of the day will be the exhibition in the school hall where each of the topic groups will have their own display. The idea is to generate ideas and prompt visitors in to thinking about, and discussing, issues that are personal to them in Helmdon. We can guess some of the subjects that will come up, but it will be interesting to see if there are common threads running through all the groups. We will be joined on the day by our county councillor, James Shepherd-Cross, our district councillor, Robin Digby (who is also the current chairman of SNC) and Rachael Abbott, Senior Rural Officer at Northants ACRE. 4th July 2003 The Countryside Agency have confirmed that we will be receiving £4,039.01 to carry out the Parish Plan, which is the full amount applied for. Now the funding is finally secured we can really press ahead with the process. Plans are being laid for the Future Needs Day on August 2nd which will take place at the school. It is important that every resident of the parish tries to come along as we want to hear everyone's thoughts, concerns and ideas for the future of Helmdon. Look out for publicity coming through your doors over the next few weeks. 12th June 2003 The Steering Group met today and agreed on the 2nd August 2003 for the date for the Future Needs Day. The purpose of holding a Future Needs Day is to start the consultation process with the whole village. Ideally we would like every single person who lives in the parish of Helmdon to come along and say what they think is good about Helmdon, what needs to be changed or improved, and what needs to be done to ensure all the good things carry on well in to the future. 10th May 2003
The aim of each group is to find the best way of finding out what current and future needs the village has. The initial focus will be to organise a display at a Future Needs Day which will present their topic and encourage feedback from visitors. The information received will then guide each group as to what Helmdonites consider to be the important areas. The groups can then formulate a questionnaire to go round the village in the Autumn to ask more detailed questions. Over 30 people are involved in the Topic Groups so we already have a good nucleus of people working on the Parish plan. 8th April 2003 It feels like the Helmdon Parish Plan project is now underway. Planning actually started in June last year, and there have been a number of meetings since, but the actual launch took place in the Reading Room at an open meeting on Tuesday 1st April. The meeting was very well attended and most of those present came forward at the end of the meeting to sign up for the Working Group or to pledge their help and support. A steering group has been set up along with 6 topic groups which will look at village issues in detail. Although the groups are established already, anyone that wants to be involved at this level is most welcome to join in. Please have a look at the other information in this section and then send an e-mail indicating your interest to parishplan@helmdon.com. The steering group will be meeting on 15th April to agree its Terms of Reference and to plan the way forward. |
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