Over the past few years, the Parish Council has become
increasingly aware that it may be in the interests of the village
to create a Parish Plan.
A Parish Plan is a document which contains the hopes and future
needs of the villagers to continue to make Dennington a place where
people want to live. It can cover issues such as affordable
housing, transport, sports facilities, village hall or the needs of
specific groups in our society, such as the elderly or disabled.
The details contained in the Plan are obtained by
questionnaires.
Anyone who has examined the possibility of applying for grants
or funding in the village will know that one of the requirements
for approval is the perceived need or support for the project
within the local community. A Parish Plan is a powerful method for
proving the support.
The public meeting held in the Village Hall on September 16th
was very well attended. Annette Gray from Suffolk Acre gave a clear
and concise talk on the benefits of creating a Parish Plan. After
some discussion it was generally agreed by those present that we
should go ahead and produce a Parish Plan for Dennington.
The first step has been the creation of a Steering Group. Not
surprisingly, there were plenty of volunteers for the Group and it
has ended up with 11 members, many of whom are able to represent
the various village groups and committees already in existence.
The primary purpose of the Steering Group is to produce a
questionnaire that will be distributed to every household in the
Parish for completion. The questionnaire will cover all aspects of
village life and will give us an opportunity to give our own input
into how we think Dennington should develop for the future. The
results of the questionnaire will form the basis of the Parish
Plan.
The process of drawing up the questionnaire is time consuming,
so it will be some months before it will be delivered. 21 villagers
have kindly offered their help with delivery and collection, an
awesome response and a great indicator of the importance of and
interest generated by this project.
It is my intention to keep the village updated on the progress
made by the Steering Group via the Parish website, but if anybody
has any queries regarding the Parish Plan do contact me by email on
contiven@btinternet.com
Simon Jones
Steering Group
WHY HAVE A PARISH
PLAN?