What is a Parish Plan?
In 2000, the government published a White Paper in which they promised to:
“...give local power to country towns and villages [by funding] a new programme of town and village plans, to help 1,000 communities map and safeguard their most valued features and influence future development plans.”
(“Our Countryside: The Future”, DEFRA, November 2000).
Since then, rural communities have been producing their own Plans, and in fact this is the second Plan to be undertaken for this Parish. The first one, completed by a different group of volunteers in 2002, has been described as a “powerful tool” which has been used to both help and influence such organisations as the Parish Council, Purbeck District Council and Dorset County Council in their decision-making concerning Lytchett Matravers.
For example, did you know that the skateboard park, the Multi User Games Area, and the 40mph speed limit in Wimborne Road were all direct results of the 2002 Parish Plan? Or that the views expressed in it have been used to support the rejection of planning applications in our green belt areas? Citing the Parish Plan has also resulted in only one out of five applications for radio masts in the area to be approved, just because the community expressed opposition to them through this process! It just goes to show that it IS worthwhile making our feelings known!
We have been provided with a budget from the Dorset Strategic Partnership to cover the costs of the Plan for 2008 so that a copy could be made available to every resident of the Parish as well as our Parish, District and County Councils. We are working within this budget to cover the costs of the consultation process and the printing of the Plan itself.