Parish Plan Sept 2020.docx

Parish Plan Update No. 2 – 29/08/17

Parish Plan Update 18-05-17

Why does Hursley Need a Parish Plan?

We all love living in Hursley.

There are some wonderful things about Hursley that we want to preserve and there are some constant irritants that we would fix if we could.

But…

are we sure that we all agree on the things that we like and the things that we don’t?   Maybe, maybe not.  Before we do anything, we really should find out.

And…

once we’ve agreed on what we want to keep and improve and what we want to ditch, then who is in a position to do anything about it?   The answer is that some of it might be down to community action. – through HVCA for instance; – other things are for the Parish Council.  The big things, though, major changes and anything that has significant financial implications are likely to be for authorities such as Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council.  In order to get things done we need a means of influencing those authorities.

What is a Parish Plan?

The last coalition government promoted localism, the devolution of power from the centre and boosted the influence that communities have over decisions that affect them.   As a result, a Parish Plan that records the wishes of a community has to be given careful consideration by relevant public bodies.

A Parish Plan involves everyone in the community and sets out to discover people’s priorities and find out what the community as a whole wants and doesn’t want.    This information is then used to construct an action plan.

So a Parish Plan:

• Provides a focus for community action
• Acts as an action plan for the Parish Council
• Has to be taken seriously by local authorities

Many of our neighbouring communities have drawn up plans and can testify to their value in preservation and improvement.

What next?

The Parish Plan is created by the community.  It is not drawn up by the Parish Council.  Nevertheless the Parish Council can legitimately facilitate the process and so will organise a launch event in the autumn.  In all probability this will be followed by the distribution of a questionnaire, collation of the information received and drafting of a plan.

What can I do?

All you have to do is complete the questionnaire so that your views can be taken into account.  However, the process does need members of the community to get involved.  There will, for example, have to be a steering committee and volunteers will be needed to help with the process.  If you think you might be interested in helping, please contact Michael Arthur (mgahursley@aol.com)