Consulting Our Community

PARISH PLAN for STURRY, BROAD OAK and HERSDEN 2009

What is a Parish Plan?
It starts with a meeting like this that gathers a group of interested people together to then carry 
out a community survey.
This survey is a survey of your community undertaken by the community for the community.
To highlight the good and bad about living in a particular area and set out local people’s views on
what future changes are needed to improve that area.

The results are then written up into a printed document that might also include any or all of the following suggestions:

  • Some history of the parish
  • Parish profile (population figures, etc)
  • Churches, schools
  • Clubs and societies
  • Housing and development
  • Environment
  • Health care and community services
  • Business and service industries
  • Ordnance survey map
  • Transport and traffic
  • Crime
  • A list of Listed buildings
  • Write-up of the Consultation/survey
  • An Action Plan for the future

Why do a survey?

  • To be informed about what residents want from and for the community. Everyone has the chance to express THEIR views, including the needs of the most vulnerable or least vocal, such as the elderly and young people.  
  • To ensure local needs are identified. By taking stock of what the community has and has not, features missing or services needed can be highlighted. 
  • To enable access to all services and facilities in the community. Making community members more aware of what is already currently available. 
  • To influence local authorities and grant making organisations. Evidence of what is most important to people in an area is collected to support decision makers, such as Canterbury City Council.
  • To encourage community spirit. Encourage communication, reduce isolation, bringing together established residents and newcomers.

Surveys do not have a set format – they vary and can be adapted to your own area to ensure you ask only questions that are of importance or relevance to your parish….

Other forms of consultation can also be considered, such as:

  • Focus groups
  • A photographic survey exercise – perhaps with young people, or all or some of the local clubs and societies – where they are given a disposable camera and asked to take photographs or what they like and dislike in the area – with comments as to why they feel like that. These photographs and comments can be very useful for the finished printed document!

What are the benefits of a Parish Plan?
There are many, including:

  • Vital evidence to support funding applications such as the Lottery
  • A greater community voice.  Residents now included in plans for the future
  • Key issues identified perhaps for the first time.

The Action Plan
The Action Plan is the most valuable outcome of the survey. It produces:

  • Initiatives to meet local need highlighted through the consultation (for example a new community newsletter, neighbourhood watch group, play groups or community hall)
  • Information to respond to future plans that have an impact on the community
  • Improved communication with the district and local council.
  • Evidence to support decision makers. Statistical information obtained can be fed into Local Plans with local authorities, the Police, and health service providers. 

Change is inevitable. An appraisal gives you the opportunity to influence that change, and work towards a thriving community for both present and future generations.

So how do we produce a Parish Plan?
There are seven main steps:

 

Stage 1

PLANNING

 

Stage 1 – Planning

  • Set aims and objectives
  • Plan the project
  • Identify volunteer skills and match them to the tasks
  • Secure the involvement of Action with Communities in Rural Kent,  parish, district and county council
  • Generate publicity
  • Secure funding to cover costs
  • Co-ordinate everyone’s efforts

Stage 2

RESEARCH

Stage 2- Research

  • Ask people for their opinions to see if these are the issues important to the community
  • Collect existing information about the community

Stage 3

QUESTIONNAIRE & CONSULTATION

 

Stage 3- Questionnaire

  • Draft a questionnaire based on objectives and peoples opinions
  • Arrange the production, circulation and collection of questionnaires
  • Consider other forms of consultation – such as focus groups
  • Consider a photographic survey exercise – perhaps with young people, or all or some of the local clubs and societies

Stage 4

ANALYSIS

 

Stage 4 – Analysis

  • Input and collate questionnaire data gained
  • Analyse the information gained

Stage 5

ACTION PLAN & REPORT

 

Stage 5 – Action Plan Compilation & Report

  • Draw up an Action Plan
  • Produce, publish and distribute the report (to CCC, KCC, AwCiRK, Canterbury District Community Partnership, Kent Police, voluntary and community groups consulted, local schools, copies on display in library, waiting rooms, etc.)
  • Instigate Action Plan findings

Stage 6

MONITOR/REVIEW

Stage 6 – Monitor & Review

  • Monitor and review the Action Plan regularly

Stage 7

FEEDBACK TO COMMUNITY

Stage 7 – Feedback to the Community

  • Feedback to the Community results and actions
  • Distribute copies of Parish Plan final document to residents

 

If I volunteer to help what would I have to do?
We need volunteers to form a steering group or main working party to see the project through from start to finish – but we also need volunteers to do behind-the-scenes, one-off tasks also.

The steering group duties:

  • Attend regular meetings – usual practice is one a month
  • Timescale will be a minimum of 9 months and more likely to be 12, or as long as 18 months, depending on  how often the group meets and how work progresses.

To:

  • Agree aims and objectives for group and the project
  • Agree roles for group members
  • Form a Constituted group and open a bank account in group’s name
  • Act as the body for funding application submissions
  • Co-ordinate publicity – posters, press releases, newsletter articles
  • Co-ordinate photographic survey
  • Co-ordinate survey distribution, collection, analysis and write-up
  • Co-ordinate additional consultation – focus groups, public event(s)
  • Gather information and prepare Content and text for draft document
  • Editing/deciding on priorities
  • Producing final document and Action Plan
  • Co-ordinating delivery of final document

Peripheral volunteers duties:
The following are suggestions only, based on other parishes ideas and experiences - 

  • To distribute questionnaires door-to-door. This could be just for the road that you live in – or a road you don’t live – or more than one road.
  • To possibly collect the surveys back again by knocking on doors to collect them.
  • To put up posters
  • To update the Parish Council website with progress reports
  • To make tea and coffee/deal with refreshments at a public meeting at the “half-way” point to advertise  progress and gather further vital residents’ views on    prioritising ideas.
  • Proof reading final document and Action Plan
  • Distribute the final document to local organisations, library, schools, and households.