5 years ago we asked residents to complete a village questionnaire to help shape our village to meet the challenges of the future.

The resulting 2005 Parish Plan has helped shape the future of our village and heavily influenced Parish Council, Mid Suffolk District Council and Suffolk County Council policies towards our village.

That Parish Plan also identified a number of concerns and needs of residents and led directly to some fundamental changes. Telstar re-launched as a monthly parish magazine, twice winning ‘Suffolk Parish Magazine of the Year’; a Good Neighbour Scheme; a popular annual Music/Fun Day on the village green; regular community quizzes and bingo nights and last but not least winning ‘Suffolk Village of the Year’ 2006.

There is still much work under way to address other major concerns and needs you had back then - for example more facilities for young people in the village; traffic and safety issues, particularly on Church Road; the major expansion of Stowmarket and the impact this is having on our village and a lack of affordable housing.

But things continue to change! We face a new decade and yet more challenges for our village. Some are still with us 5 years on. Some will be new. Some we may not yet have thought of. So now seems a good time to ask you to let us have your views, your concerns and your needs for the future.

Once again this is your chance to help shape the future of our village.

As with the previous parish plan, we have produced a separate questionnaire especially for young people in our village. Progress has been made towards providing a skate park, which was a high priority from the previous youth questionnaires.

Your views are important. Please take the time to complete the questionnaire which will shortly be delivered and help us make Stowupland an even better place to live.

We hope to produce the new Parish Plan and deliver a copy to every household in the autumn. In the meantime, we will keep you updated via Telstar.

 Rick Hamilton 775403

2005 Parish Plan