Why have a Parish Plan and What is it.

Why do we need a parish plan.

The world is a changing place. Here in Cornwood and Lutton, we live in a rural community. it is bounded on all sides by countryside, and by another Parishs. It''''s easy to think that it has always been this way, and will always stay this way.

However, one of the few certainties of life is that things will change. The size, shape and content of Cornwood and Lutton is no different from anything else. Pressures for change will come from within and from without: but they will be there. Think back just five years: while the "look and feel" of the village is the same, a number of details are different.

The village can change in many ways. Some of these changes may be perceived as good; some may be perceived as less beneficial. So what can we, as residents, do to give our input into the forces of change? One route is to have a Parish plan.

What is a Parish Plan.

A Parish Plan is a document setting out how we, the residents, want to see the area develop over the next few years. It can cover a range of issues, and gives us a recognised voice. Communities of any size can produce a Parish Plan - to date around 3,000 have been published. The Parish Plan documents the socio-economic and environmental issues of a community and its proposed remedies and actions.

Parish plans are evolving documents, outlining how a community would like to develop over the next 10 years. It will include a vision for the future, an expressionof the residents'''' views and an action plan detailing how these developments can be achieved. It will outline how the parishioners, the Parish Council, Government (at all levels) and local service providers can act to deliver the plan addressing the residents'''' wishes. Well researched and structured parish plans with actions highlighting how the parish priorities fit with wider government priorities (including housing needs), are more effective at engaging their mainstream providers (local authorities) than those focused purely on a local audience

For the plan to be effective, it needs YOUR input! For the plan to have weight, it needs to be able to demonstrate that all of the villagers have had an opportunity to give their input, and that the key conclusions are those of the village and not personal opinions of the authors. This input is being collected in a number of ways.