Community Life: Blog from our Community Planning Development Worker

Spring has bought the beautiful daffodils and bluebells out in our communities and at the same time has kept the community planning teams and parish councils buzzing.

In early March, Holybrook Parish Council held two open days in order to inform local people about what they do and what projects they are trying to achieve for the area. A community quiz was held and information was displayed about local projects. Parish Council members were on hand to talk to people about local concerns and ideas.

March was also a busy month for Basildon who had a very successful open event to see if the local people might be interested in a refresh of their community plan. 50 people visited the village hall to provide their ideas for new projects. Delicious home made cakes and cups of tea were provided. The room was buzzing with ideas and several popular topics are already emerging. The new Parish Plan steering group will be holding their first meeting towards the end of May.

In March, Arlene Kersley, CCB’s Rural Housing Enabler and I, led two training days all about  ‘Getting to Know Your Community’. We held one in Thatcham and one in Bracknell and both events were well attended with positive feedback. The sessions were in two halves, the first was on how to research statistical information about your community, using information from Local Council websites and the Office for National statistics websites, amongst others. The second half was about consulting with your community.  Possible barriers to consulting widely in your community and how to overcome them were explored. If you were unable to attend this training but would like to find out more please contact me at Tessa.Hall@ccberks.org.uk.

April saw Streatley Parish Plan refresh group, led by Karen Morton, held a feedback evening to show the community the results of their parish plan survey and questionnaire. The event was very well attended by local councillors, interest groups, members of the public and local businesses. Attendees were asked to make comments about the most popular topics from the plan and also to make any suggestions as to which organizations can help with the projects arising from the plan.  It was hoped that people would register their interest in taking the projects forward once the plan has been adopted. The Steering group has worked hard and would like some fresh volunteers to take over for the next stage of the plan. They hope to launch the plan by the AGM on 15th May.  If you live in Streatley and would like to get involved, please email:  karen.morton@thecapabilitycompany.co.uk or contact Nicola Swan at Streatley Parish Council: nicola.swan@streatley.org   All help will be gratefully received. 

By Tessa Hall, Community Planning Development Worker at CCB.
Tessa.Hall@ccberks.org.uk