We’re Off …………..!!
The “Kick-Off” Meeting was held, as widely advertised, on Monday evening April 30th in the Village Hall. Over 70 people turned up to hear presentations on what the Plan is all about, how it will be done , by whom and what the eventual outcome will be. We were fortunate to have guest speakers from Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Goring who were able to tell us of their experiences and the benefits to their own communities.
We also had the benefit of an overview of the County-wide activities of the Oxfordshire Rural Communities Council (ORCC) and how they encourage, support and provide assistance to villages such as Ewelme.
There are some 70 Parish Plans at some stage of preparation throughout the County and these should certainly let the voices of the small rural communities be noted in the strategies for the ‘bigger picture’.
During the course of the evening – and in between glasses of wine – those present had an opportunity to note their concerns and aspirations related to the future of life in the village. There were animated discussions around the display boards and many ‘issues’ identified. Currently, all the feedback gathered during the meeting is being evaluated and will be reported in the News and/or on the village website in due course. Preliminary findings suggest that the two main issues are the loss of a Village Shop and the traffic/parking problems we have now (no great surprises there then!) ……….. But what do you, the rest of the villagers, think?
We thank all of you who took the trouble to come along and participate in what appears to have been an informative and successful evening with a very positive mandate to proceed with The Plan.
But What Happens Next? ……
For the benefit of those of you who were not at the meeting (and that is perhaps 80% of the population!) we now need to formalise the Steering Committee which will prioritise the issues to be studied and put together a strategy to research these issues by attempting to gather views and feedback from ALL sectors of the community. It is recognised that this is going to be no easy task …..but we enjoy a challenge! We will use a variety of techniques to gather these data -ranging from chats with individuals/groups to other Open Meetings, ‘Drop-In Days’ (when the Hall will be open during the weekend for people to call in and have an informal chat), displays, questionnaires (minimal!),’Meet the Youth’ days - just to mention a few. For example, we will probably have a small site at the Village Fete on May 28th when you will be able to come and air any views. Each major ‘issue’ or group of issues will be studied by a dedicated Action Group whose activity will be monitored by the Steering Committee who will – probably after a period of perhaps 12 months of ‘Consultation’ - put together the Draft Action Report for the communities’ approval before issue in final form to the Parish, District and County Councils.
The success – or otherwise of this project will ultimately depend on YOU ……. This is NOT to be a Parish Plan (though they will support it) but a Plan created by the people of Ewelme for their future wellbeing and life enhancement of living in our beautiful village.
If you have any bursting need at this stage to make any comment (printable ones that is!) then please feel free to contact me by e-mail .
Brian Smailes - briansmailes@aol.com