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Community Plan

Pucklechurch ~ Shortwood ~ Parkfield ~ Lyde Green

Click here for all available documents and results from the Plan

On behalf of the Community Plan team I am very pleased to announce that the printed summary of the plan is being delivered to every household in the parish at the end of May beginning of June 2011.

The Community Plan is important for our area because it represents the wishes and aspirations of our community. The printed plan, which is being distributed with this letter, is a summary of a more comprehensive set of documents dealing in more depth with opportunities and issues facing our community. The full set of documents is available for viewing or download on the community website.

Although it took quite some time for the printed version to be completed, the plan has been active for some time and the data used in a number of decisions by the Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council. To date the plan has helped to shape decisions and plans on many issues that affect our parish. It has been used on big items such as the SITA proposal for an in-vessel composting plant and smaller issues like the identification of fly-tipping hot spots. Most recently the plan has been used to draw attention to our need for a cycle path from Pucklechurch to the Bristol to Bath cycle track.

With the publication of the Community Plan document and the Plan's adoption by the Parish Council in July 2010, the work of the existing Community Plan Steering Committee and Working Groups efforts to a close. Although it was a long and sometimes tough process, it has also been an immense accomplishment and I have to thank all the volunteers who took part for their dedication and professionalism.

The work is not complete, however. For the next phase we will need to form a project team to decide on priorities and how to get the actions implemented. It will involve some of the original committee together with parish councillors.  But we also need new people, so if you feel you have skills or know-how that will be useful, please contact me.

Beyond the implementation, we need to look at new and emerging needs of our community. We also need to consider the significant and radical reforms to the planning system contained in the Localism Bill, particularly new powers for local councils in the development of neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood development orders.

If you would like to be part of the next phase of the Community Plan, please contact me on 937 4437 or email community.plan@pucklechurch.org.

Martin Smith
Chair, Community Plan Steering Group

Click here for all available documents and results from the Plan

The Community Plan defines what the community of the Parish of Pucklechurchwant for its future. In order to make sure that the Plan represented the views the Steering Group

Why Create a Plan?

Every village and rural community has been given a chance to influence its own future as part of a National Government Initiative and now it’s our turn! The Plan will be drawn up independently, by local people, for local people.

The benefits include:

  • the identification of important projects to include in a 10-year local action plan
  • a better chance of successful funding applications to make our chosen projects happen
  • greater influence over Local Government decision making
  • improved communication with local businesses, as well as within the community
  • supporting and informing the work of the Parish Council

What went into creating the plan?

To complete the plan there was wide ranging consultation with individuals and groups around the parish followed by analysis and plan development. This took place between 2006 and 2010 and was broken into five phases:

  • Phase I – Set up
    • Establish Steering Group and processes
    • This Phase has been completed
  • Phase II – Gather ideas, issues and needs
    • Identify the items that are important to the parish
    • This phase (up to 30th September 2006) has been completed
  • Phase III – Questionnaire Development & Consultation
    • Use working groups to develop detailed questionnaire on all the topics identified in Phase II. The working groups are:
      • Community Spirit: This deals with the way people feel about the place in which they live - its sense of community and the extent to which people in the Community Plan area feel they are part of a community.
      • Environment: The man-made and natural surroundings that provide the overall physical characteristics of our area including the natural environment (our local landscape and wildlife), the built environment (our buildings, roads and other urban features) and the historic environment (our local heritage, sites and monuments).
      • Traffic & Transportation: This section looks at how people in the Community Plan area travel for work and recreation. It deals with the impact on our community of traffic from inside and outside the area.  It deals with the infrastructure to support the movement of people by foot, cycle, private vehicle and public transport.
      • Sustainability: This covers what it would take to make Pucklechurch Parish a more environmentally sustainable community.
    • Use questionnaire to engage the parish in comprehensive consultation on the future of the parish
    • This phase has been completed
  • Phase IV – Analysis and Plan Development
    • Analyse results and prepare and launch the first version of the plan
      • First each working group is to prepare an analysis of where we are today, define where we want to be in the future and develop an action plan to get there.
      • Second the individual plans will be consolidated into an overall plan for the Parish
      • Third, this will be presented to the Parish Council for adoption.  The Parish Council formally adopted the plan at the July 2010 meeting.
      • Notify SGC of the plan content so that relevant areas of SGC are aware of the findings and actions.
      • Forth this will then be be published and a summary distributed to all households in the Parish
  • Phase V – Action and Monitor
    • Implement recommendations, monitor progress, modify plan as required

Click here for all available documents and results from the Plan

Contact Information

Please email: community.plan@pucklechurch.org

or call Martin Smith (937 4437)