Barking/Darmsden Residents
- Want to save money on the cost of your heating
oil?
The Barking Parish Plan Implementation Steering Group would like
to hear from anyone who would like to join a new community based,
countrywide oil buying syndicate. Over 60 people indicated in the
Parish Plan questionnaire that they wold be interested in becoming
part of a Parish buying group, so we are expecting a big response
to this request. Responses to Implementation Steering Group members
(Sue Marsh, Sue Bailey or Rosemary Cochrane) or via this link
Parish Plan Implementation Steering Group
A Parish Plan is a community led project, produced at a very local
level with a high degree of community involvement. It identifies
the needs of the whole community with clear priorities, and
provides an Action Plan to achieve them. There is also an
opportunity for all parishioners to have a say in how the local
area and services are managed. Lastly, a Parish Plan puts us on the
agenda with the district and county councils, giving us a
much-needed voice.
Steering Group Members at time of publication of Final Report and
Action Plan:
Sue Marsh, Rosemary
Cochrane, Sue Bailey
Latest
Update - 28h April 2011
The Parish Plan Steering Group has now produced the Final
Report. A copy is being given to key stakeholders and decision
makers as well as each Parish group and organisation. We had
originally planned to provide one to every household, but the cost
of this is prohibitive. The Final Report is available on the Parish
website and paper copies are available on request. Click onto the
following link to view the Final Report -
Barking Parish Plan Final Report April 2011
The Action Plan is a separate document which is being
distributed to all relavent groups and organisations. All key
actions are contained within the Final Report, but a full copy of
the Action Plan is available on request.
The Parish Council fully supports this very important project and
will annually monitor the Action Plan to ensure key actions are
followed up. The Parish Plan will be a very useful document which
will guide decisions in the future. It should influence key
stakeholders and decision makers on the future of Barking and
Darmsden and the services we receive.
The next stage is to implement
the Action Plan. An ‘Implementation Action Group’ will need to be
formed as soon as possible to take forward the Actions identified
by the parish. Actions such as setting up a parish buying group for
heating oil, setting up a Good Neighbour Scheme, looking into the
feasibility of starting up a Community Shop, promoting the
footpaths in the parish, and generally overseeing the Action Plan.
Most actions are for the parish groups and organisations and most
are very quick and easy to achieve, but the Action Plan will need
to be managed. If you are interested in being a member of this
Action Group, please get in touch with Rosemary Cochrane as soon as
possible. The Steering Group has worked really hard on this project
and it would be great to see some other volunteers come forward to
implement this final stage of the Project.
Barking Parish Plan Steering Group
Contact: Rosemary Cochrane 01473
657009
THE PARISH PLAN
PROCESS
Why are we bothering to go through this long Parish Plan
exercise?
We are all familiar with the generally held view that “nobody
listens to what we say”! Decisions about what happens in any
community always seem to be taken by unknown officials. The
findings from this questionnaire will enable the Parish Plan
Steering Group to put on record what the people of this Parish
think about a wide range of matters. It will then be possible for
the Parish Council and others to influence future plans for the
Parish of Barking.
What will happen to the questionnaire?
The Parish Plan Steering Group will analyse the answers to the
questions and write a report on the findings to be distributed to
every house. The findings will be used by organisations and Village
Groups such as the Village Hall Management committee to review
their work and possibly make changes for the better. With a bit of
luck new groups will arise to carry some new projects forward. The
report will also provide evidence for the Parish Council to make
representations to the District and County/Unitary Council and
government agencies for grant support for changes or improvements
in local provision.
Why is there a separate questionnaire for young
people?
Because they have very particular interests which are not
represented on the main questionnaire. It is important to give them
a voice.
Who are the Steering Group?
Some volunteers came forward at the initial Public Meeting in
April 2006, and others expressed an interest subsequently. They are
a very good mix of age, sex and occupation and between them have
knowledge of the different organisations in Barking and the
different housing areas of the Parish. Input has also been sought
from representatives of Darmsden.
Who thought up the questions?
The Steering Group used a huge bank of sample questions to start
this exercise. Questions were chosen and worded to deal with issues
thought to be of interest. In the full knowledge that the subjects
of the questions will not cover everything, an open question is
included at the end.
How is this all being funded?
A Parish and Town Plans Grant was provided by DEFRA via Suffolk
ACRE, Barking Parish Council has made a small contribution - 5% of
the budget, Mid Suffolk District Council has provided a Community
Projects Minor Grant, County Councillor Julia Truelove has
allocated a grant from the Suffolk County Council Locality Budget
and Barking Community Council has pledged financial support if
needed. The Parish Council has backed what is being done as the
councillors can see it will be enormously helpful to their future
planning. The whole project is only possible because Steering Group
members have been prepared to give many hours of their own time to
do the preparatory work, attend training courses, organise Public
meetings, draw up the questionnaires and eventually, write the
report.
Will I be identified?
NO! Great lengths are being taken to preserve confidentiality.
You do not write your name anywhere. When your questionnaire is
completed you will seal it in a plain envelope before handing it
back to the distributor/collector. The envelopes will be handed in
to one person who will keep them securely until they are opened to
enter the data. By that time there will be over 200 envelopes and
no way of telling which came from where.