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| Clifford Parish Council The council meets in the community centre on the second Thursday of alternating months. The parish clerk is Christine Bates: Christine Bates The Smithy Pen-y-parc Clifford HR3 5HA 01497 831422 E-mail Christine Members of the Parish Council William Bullough Candia Compton Margaret Davies (chair) Tom Davies Gill Grove Martin Preece David Morgan James Towersey Anthony Williams Timetable for Council Meetings 2008/2009 All meetings begin at 7.30pm and take place in Clifford Community Centre July 10th 2008 September 11th 2008 November 13th 2008 January 8th 2009 March 12th 2009 May 14th 2009 - AGM 7.00pm | Meeting 7.30pm • Parish Plan In September, 2006, at the request of Clifford Parish Council, a group of parishioners began work on a 'Parish Plan' for Clifford. What is a Parish Plan? The Parish plan is a “vision” of how we want our community to develop. It is an official document with power to influence government. The Parish Plan will help to ensure that local people are in control of changes that may affect the community. It will identify everything that is most important about living in Clifford and Hardwicke. It will cover everything from employment to health, from housing and leisure to the protection of hedges and trees. The Parish Plan is part of a new system that will ensure that local people get their views heard. The Parish Plan will: - Reflect the views of the whole community - Identify local problems and opportunities - Describe the most highly valued village features to protect them - Spell out how local people want the village to develop - Prepare a plan of action to achieve this vision. The Parish Plan is being drawn up by a group of local volunteers. You are welcome to our meetings which are advertised in The Link and on the Parish website (www.cliffordparish.org.uk). Why do we need one? The main reason for the development of a Parish Plan is to encourage more local democracy and openness. What can we realistically expect a Parish Plan to deliver? One of the dangers is that the Plan may encourage unrealistic expectations. There are no extra funds purely dedicated for the development of a Parish Plan - however not having a Plan can put the Parish at “the back of the queue” for government funding. The goals of the plan should therefore be specific and realistic. Proposed actions and timing There are two elements to the development of the Parish Plan. The first is to put together a description of the parish as it currently stands. This is almost completed (as at May 1st, 2007). The second element is to send out a questionnaire to all parishioners*. A series of 'focus groups' has been held with local societies (eg, the WI, the Karate Club, the Net). Feedback from these groups will form the basis of the questionnaire, which will be distributed at the end of June. The completed questionnaires will be sent to a team of social researchers at Hereford Council for analysis, to ensure independence and transparency. The analysis will be completed by January 2008. On the basis of the questionnaire results the final Parish Plan document will be ready by May 2008. * The questionnaire was distributed to all residents of Clifford and Hardwicke at the end of June. In order to reduce costs the questionnaires were delivered by hand by volunteers from the parish plan committee. If you have received a questionnaire and are not sure how to return it please call Jenny on 831 416 or Jenny on 831 624. Parish Plan update January, 2008: The questionnaires filled in by parishioners earlier this year were sent to Hereford Council for analysis and we now have the results. 39% of the forms were completed, which is an average response rate. In brief, the overall feeling is that residents appear to be generally happy with the status quo in Clifford and Hardwicke and do not want to see any major changes. A sense of community, the peace and quiet and the natural beauty of the area are all particularly valued. Areas of disquiet include concerns about trafic speed, litter and environmental issues. A number of respondents voiced support for a farm shop/produce market and a re-opened pub. The next step for the Planning group is to draft the PLan, which will be based on the results of the questionnaire analysis. This is to be ready for the next Parish Plan meeting (see below). Jenny Bullough and Simon Forrester Meeting minutes Meetings of the Parish Plan committee are open to all parishioners. All committee members give their time on a voluntary basis. Minutes are available here: Meeting 1, September 2006 Meeting 2, October 2006 Meeting 3, January 2007 Meeting 4, March 2007 Meeting 5, April 2007 Meeting 6, June 2007 Meeting 7, August 2007 Meeting 8, November 2007 Meeting 9, March 2008 |
| E-mail Dave, the website manager: cliffordparish(at)gmail.com [replace 'at' with @] |