Diptford Parish Plan

Introduction: All Parish Councils have been urged by the government to develop & publish their wishes & desires for their Parish in the form of a Parish Plan.

This is an initiative that has challenged local communities to play a positive role in the ongoing long term development of their towns and villages.

Diptford Parish Council felt that in effect it was a time to ' put up or shut up' and as a proactive Parish, embarked on this initiative in August 2004.

Councillors Steve Hill & Sue Franklin agreed to set up and to drive the initiative forward.

Funding to support the costs of the programme was gained from the Countryside Agency & from Diptford Parish Council. This came with some minor caveats, but also a stipulation that the final 'Plan' must be published within one calendar year.

After some consideration it was agreed that the plan should meet the following criteria:

- reflect a realistic vision of the future as per the desires of the Parish.

- be informative, but short & to the point.

- be a statement of intent & focus for future actions.

- be a working document, continually under development.

- be of value to all.

It was determined that the best way forward was to split the task into five general areas of interest and to co-opt all interested parties willing to take a lead or provide support. These were decided upon as:

• Environment & Transport
• Communication & IT
• Education, business & Training
• Planning & Development
• Leisure & Tourism

Interested parishioners were encouraged to form these groups and have over the past months undertaken a huge task. Each group determined the best way forward to formulate the structure & content of their remit. Gathering information and seeking the views, wishes & desires of the Parishioners of Diptford has been a huge undertaking and will continue to be ongoing.

One thing that is abundantly clear is that it is never possible to gain 100% agreement from all, but we strive toward a balanced end result that is a representative view of the Parishioners of Diptford.

Several meetings have taken place over the past months including information gathering from individuals or small groups and community wide presentations. Whilst these have included many members of the community unfortunately it has not to date been possible to encourage the input from every parishioner or household.

At an open forum meeting in April 2005 at the Parish Hall, it was requested that a way be found to provide all members of Diptford Parish with an overview of work to date and to provide an opportunity for documentary feedback on all areas which may be incorporated within the Finalised Parish Plan.