Parish Plan Project

RECREATION & SPORT – New changing rooms are needed for the Football Club. Healthy pursuits- respondents to the Parish Plan had suggested Keep Fit and Badminton amongst others.

TIDDLYWINKS – Dedicated facilities to better provide for children from the village many of whom go elsewhere and subsequently may go to other schools.

ENTERTAINMENT & SOCIAL EVENTS – There was concern that the Social Club and Dances were not well supported by people from Hundon.

YOUTH – It was agreed to reduce ”Astroturf” charges for younger users.It was hoped that with the support and involvement of parents, the Youth Club could be restarted and involve teenagers in community activities.

ICT/EDUCATION – Mark MacIntosh, head teacher was concerned that the school could not provide adequate PE and sports facilities. However he did offer to provide adult IT training and support using school facilities.

COMMUNITY SHOP & PARKING – The village shop has become so successful that it needs more space. Parking needs to be improved for shop and village hall users.

After these subjects had been discussed those present were invited to vote on the best way of solving the most urgent issues and the overwhelming majority favoured extending the existing building. This will provide a quick solution to the problems facing tiddlywinks, the football club and the community shop. In order to facilitate this a parish plan working group was formed and held their first meeting on Monday, February 18th. We wish them success and hope that they will receive your support in their mission to provide for the future needs of our village.

Catherine Clark, David Rowlinson

This can be downloaded viewed and printed from HERE

It will also be available from the village shop Friday 20th May 2011 at a small cost to cover publishing

A sincere thank you to everyone who has taken part to enable the plan to come to its conclusion.

The report includes the following sections with page numbers:

• Summary 4
• Context 6
• Parish History 8
• Overview of Parish Plan 10
• Housing and Development 12
• Community Care 16
• Our Church and Amenities 18
• Public Transport 20
• Community Health and Healthy Living 22
• Information and Communication 24
• Roads, Traffic and Anti-Social Behaviour 26
• Utilities 28
• Younger People 30
• Elected Representatives, Trusts and Emergency Services 32
• Caring for our Environment 34
• The Allotments 36
• Business and Employment 38
• Summary 40
• Conclusion and What’s Next 46

28th February 2011

THANKS TO THE PARISH PLAN STEERING GROUP

Stewart Alderman; William Barthorpe; Chris Callow; Catherine & Lewis Clark; David Coxshall; Tony Eaton; Stephen Gilbert; Mick Humphries; Phil Impey; Michael & Hilary Levitt; Brian Lowe; Antony Lucas; Tom and Jan McLardy; Jamie Murray; David Rowlinson; Amy Smith; Jane Tabram; Sharon White.

Dear Steering Group,

It was about 800 days ago that we first met to pull together a parish plan for Hundon – a few days longer than we thought! You have been a highly inspirational and active group. Whilst we lost and gained a few members along the way, you have all provided wisdom, direction and commitment to the plan and have been excellent ambassadors in ensuring the village and outlying communities have all had their say. I would like to thank you all for all your time, energy and engagement to make this a first class piece of work. I hope that some of you will help to make the recommendations in the plan happen.

Jamie Letts (Parish Plan Co-ordinator)

18th February 2011

The Hundon Parish Plan
 

• In 2008, there were concerns that St Edmundsbury Council would insist that more houses were to be built in Hundon. Local discussion quickly moved onto the threat of more flooding; more traffic; insufficient education and more pressure on our drainage and sewage system. What became abundantly clear is that Hundon did not have a cohesive plan to demonstrate what we wanted as a community
•  About 3000 communities have a Parish plan in the UK, including one third of parishes in Suffolk. We were the only parish in Suffolk fortunate to receive a grant from  ‘Awards for All’ to make this possible
• The purpose of the plan was simple. It was to seek out what we all valued as a community; tease out the key concerns and through the questionnaire and village meetings collects compelling evidence to motivate future action
• Two years later with your help, we have achieved it. We think the report does justice to the views of this parish, it certainly makes compelling reading. The evidence that we have captured will enable our community to raise funds or canvas for volunteers to make our parish an even better place

The plan is full of interesting facts about the key issues in the parish, it

documents the key findings from the questionnaire and sets out a plan of action. It is now complete and is in the process of being published and will be available at the village shop (there will be a small charge to cover the cost of printing) and on the Hundon Village website — see below for link.
 

It covers over 50 recommendations in 15 areas of community life expressed by 84% of house holds (649 people) completing the questionnaire and expressing valuable opinions.

What happens next depends on us all. Both the residents and the local councils — all have their part to play.

With the imminent publication of our Parish Plan I think it’s important to appreciate the significance of this document, how it can influence the future of our village and how we all have a part to play in its implementation. Your Parish Council gave its backing to the Plan because it was felt that proposed changes in local government at the time would provide us with an opportunity to have more say and that by demonstrating that we are concerned about our community we can achieve positive results.

Even before its publication we can see examples of some of your wishes being put into practice such as the Community Cafe, Youth Club, Oil Buying Group etc. and plans are in hand to set up speed checks to improve safety in our

village. These are all good examples of how community-minded individuals came make a difference and I would like to thank all those concerned for making things happen.

However whilst some of these involve the Parish Council, others will require

action from, for example, the Village Hall and other groups within the community and so I would ask anyone who would like to become involved in making our village an even nicer place to live to take an active part. And let’s not forget that becoming involved includes supporting village activities whether it be going along to the Village Hall on a Thursday afternoon for a cup of tea and a slice of delicious home-made cake and a natter or joining one of the many groups and clubs. Hundon is what we make it!

David Rowlinson – on behalf of your Parish Council

• Sincere thanks to everybody that contributed comments on  the 50 recommendations. We have taken all comments into consideration and believe that we now have a document that contains compelling evidence on how our community can be improved over the next few years.
• Recommendations cover many subjects including: housing & future development, allotments & a greener village, dog fouling, anti social behaviour, the church, public transport, roads, community health, social activitied and sports
• The Parish Council will consider the plan early in 2011, after the report is published. We know that future funding will be difficult, but many of the actions can cost very little other than a small amount of time from  individuals.
• We intend to provide copies of the published report in the Village shop. Any funds raised will help towards future projects in the plan

A  BIG thank you to everybody who was able to turn out and help review the 50  or so actions in the proposed Parish Plan on November 4^th at the village hall.

• The village hall was full with over 100 people, who were guided through a presentation of the household, youth and business questionnaires. With over 80% of households completing the survey last summer, we are able to provide compelling evidence for future actions to make our Parish and our homes an even better place to live.
• We have fully considered all the comments given to us at the meeting and will be publishing the revised actions on the village website www.hundon-village.co.uk/parishplan shortly and copies will be available at the village shop. You are still welcome to comment on these recommendations, although the window of opportunity is only until December 12^th.  write to HPP, 5 Farmerie Road, Hundon. CO10 8HA With any further comments or recommendations
• The steering group will be reporting the Recommendations for Action to the Parish Council who will be the driving force for the next phase.  We will publish the full report, which will include interesting background facts, an analysis of the survey and the full survey results in January and copies will be made available.

• The most important action will be to make the plan actually happen and early in 2010, we will inform you how you can get involved in ‘Making it Happen’!

Open Meeting at the Village Hall
7.30pm Thursday 4th November 2010

 To give our parish plan credibility and ensure it is given high profile for future action, we need your help during this final consultation process.

• This is your chance to view the findings of the Parish Plan questionnaires and endorse, or even change the 45 recommendations for future action.
• We would like to tell you how we intend to take these proposals forward and need your help to prioritise these recommendations for action. There are recommendations on  housing and future Development; the allotments and making our village ‘greener’; tackling dog fouling and anti social behaviour; supporting younger people; The Rogeron Trust and the Church; public transport and our roads; community heath and care; social activities and sports
• To make these recommendations happen we need your support and your views to carry the parish plan forward.

Come and discuss these findings with us on Thursday 4th November at the village hall

There was considerable interest in the development of the plan with 84% of households and over 700 people completing the questionnaires and expressing valuable opinions. One of the best response rates for a village plan consultation seen for the size of Parish in Suffolk. This is a brief summary of some points raised from the parish plan questionnaire

 What we value

* We enjoy living in beautiful Suffolk countryside and particularly value the community and organisations that make up the parish. We appreciate the open space and especially the green spaces that we have within the village.

* We value the stability of our relatively small community and the services that volunteers, schools and businesses provide. Most in the parish visit the shop every week and the village hall at least once a year.

* The Hundon Herald was very popular with most liking it just as it is, although there was demand for more news and articles both in and outside the village. Half the village had visited the village website and thought it adequate for our needs

* Most businesses operated from domestic premises and employers did not find a shortage of skilled labour but thought a register of skills and a business directory on the web site would be useful.

What we want

* We understand that to be a thriving community some population growth would be appropriate, but housing should be mainly tailored to affordable housing for both the young and older generations.

* We would like a new “Good Neighbour” scheme and a register of local skills would benefit many of us who our depend on others for help, skill and knowledge for those every day Problems.

* There is strong demand for new clubs and activities. Keep fit classes, including yoga and badminton. There was a surprisingly strong demand for adult education classes and entertainment such as films – ‘flicks in the sticks’. There was strong support for larger events such as a village fete & superstars.

* There is an appetite for more employment opportunities in the parish and small businesses said there was a shortage of small business premises and workshops.

* Speeding and dog litter were a concern to a clear majority and many thought there was a need for more speed warning signs and enforcement of limits.

* In the youth survey there was a desire to be better represented in the community and most thought a youth council a good idea with  activities such as pool and table tennis and basket ball strong favourites.

* There is demand for signposted circular walks and bike rides close to the village and many would like to improve our understanding of local wildlife. Many thought that planting wildflowers and bulbs on roadside verges and setting up community woodland would make our surroundings even better.

What we are unsure about

* Most households own a car, and only 5% of people are reliant on the bus for essential needs, although more might use the bus service if it operated a better service to places like Clare and Bury St Edmunds. Demand for a better service was strong in the youth survey with about half supporting a new service to Clare.

* There was little consensus on our public services. Over 50% of people had no view on whether the police, or parish, Borough or County council performed a good or poor service. The parish does interact well with the community but mixed opinion on whether they resolve contentious issues well. The parish did not know whether the Rogeron Trust met its responsibilities  although 40% thought communications could improve. Most of the parish did not know about relief to those in need or grants to the church. Although many thought the provision of educational grants good or excellent.

* Most residents were not interested in acquiring an allotment, although many indicated that if mains water and machinery sharing was on site they might reconsider. There was a mix of views on how the space not used by allotments should be managed, but a mix of trees and shrubs were popular.

* There was surprising interest in schemes to help reduce our carbon footprint, with a lot of interest in solar power and tree planting. Even a community wind turbine / heat pump proved popular.

As a result of the completed questionnaires we have now received, the initial analysis of the details together with the first overview comprising the 15 main issues raised. The editorial group is now working on a final draft to the committee prior to the public issue and presentation to the village when we can prioritise the issues and complete the action plan.

We hope that a summary of the work so far should be published in the October issue of the Hundon Herald. The final report will be published on this website by the end of December.

As we have mentioned before, we have had an excellent response from the village and this has resulted in the highest number of returns recorded from any community questionnaire in the whole of Suffolk

• A big thank you everyone who completed the
  questionnaire. Over 80% of households returned the questionnaire which is an excellent result. Sincere thanks also go to the Steering Group and the small army of volunteers who delivered and collected them.
• There will be a great deal of work over the next couple of months to analyse the responses and to draw up an action plan. Following the analysis, the next step is to write our Parish Plan and action points using the data you have provided.
• The Parish Plan will have a real influence on the document which can guide officials and councillors when they make decisions affecting us. It has to reflect what we think, but in their terms.
• We will report back and consult you in the Autumn to help us make the final recommendations
• More news will follow to keep you updated
  Thank you again for completing the questionnaire.

This month the questionnaire will go to our plan designers and pass to the printers. A pilot questionnaire will be delivered to 20 households in the parish. This will give us the feedback for the final design of the plan to allow distribution to all households in Hundon during April

We would still like some more photographs from Hundon 

These should depict the village, people and events happening for possible inclusion in the Plan and the Hundon website.

The Parish Plan will influence decisions about what happens in Hundon 

Be part of history Help to deliver and collect questionnaires in your street or area.

What does Hundon mean to you?

This is your chance to have a say in shaping the way we want to see our village going forward.  Importantly, if your views are supported by others then it becomes a blueprint for what we, the parishioners, would like to improve or change within Hundon.

You live here, you decide  —  Make it your village  

Not any village — Keep community spirit alive

Don’t just sleep here — Live here

 If you wish to comment on any aspects  of the Parish Plan – please or write to: Hundon Parish Plan, 5 Farmerie Road, Hundon, CO10 8HA

13th February 2010

After a successful prune of 170 questions last Saturday and a subsequent meeting of the question editorial group of the steering committee, we have come up with a list of about 60 questions in which to consult the village.

However, it will still take some time to draft these questions and especially the wording into a final draft that we can consult upon.

The Business and Youth sections of the questionnaire are now proceeding well.

It is all well under way – but it all takes more time than we originally anticipated.

The time and effort put in by the Steering Group members has been tremendous – thank you.

Your Parish   —  Your Plan   —  Your Future

The Hundon Parish Plan is coming very soon
It’s your chance—for your say—for your village.
Do not waste this opportunity
The Parish Plan belongs to the community but to be most
effective we need the co-operation of everyone
We are looking for a 100% response Please support our future

The Parish Plan can influence decisions about what happens in your village – get involved

We need your help to help deliver and collect questionnaires in your street or area.

To help please write to Hundon Parish Plan, 5 Farmerie Road, Hundon, CO10 8HA

The Parish Plan aims to set out a vision of how the community want to develop over the next 5-10 years. A comprehensive plan will be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Parish through community consultation. It is then possible to create an action plan in
order to achieve the vision for the future by changing or improving aspects of the Parish

We would like some more photographs from Hundon to depict the village for possible
inclusion in the Plan document and on the Hundon website.

The Parish Plan questionnaire will include sections for both the thoughts and needs of the YOUTH and identify the issues and concerns of importance to BUSINESSES in the parish. The views of these sectors are vital to the continued development, growth and environment of the village

You live here, you decide — Make it your village — not any village
Keep community spirit alive — Don’t just sleep here —  Live here

Following confirmation the funding has now been promised in full, the programme for the preparation of the Hundon Parish Plan is proceeding well and all outstanding matters are now in hand

At the Hundon Parish Plan Steering Group meeting held on Monday 2nd November 2009, the following points agreed:

1

The questionnaire templates have now been incorporated in to a 27 page document with all elements to be finalised before the next meeting

2

Following the initial parish plan workshop at Suffolk A.C.R.E (Action with Communities in Rural England which is a registered charity), the final two workshops are to be arranged

3

The next steps of the work programme were finalised leading up to the issuing of the questionnaire

4

Questionnaires will be personally handed out to all households in the parish.

5

The target date for issuing the questionnaires is March/April 2010

6

Planning is well in hand for the analysis and report writing following the return of the questionnaires which will culminate in a public meeting at the Village Hall prior to final publication and official report to the Parish Council and to other groups and organisations that might be instrumental in implementation.

7

It was also suggested that we should have a small number of people on a residual committee that would make a regular review to see if and to what extent the recommendations have been taken up.

28th October 2009

We are delighted to tell you that Awards for All have promised us funding in full for the Parish Plan Project.

The Parish Council have also agreed to part fund the plan by £500 at their last council meeting. This means that the funding requirement is now complete. All we have to do is to come up with the goods!!

We have now combined all the questionnaire template forms into one document…27 pages!! But it makes good reading!!

Still a lot to do finalise the document – but it is looking good.

16th September 2009

Obtaining funding for the implementation of the Parish Plan  has been, much slower than expected. An application has been submitted to Awards 4 All  for about £6000. The outcome is expected in the next few weeks. St Edmundsbury Council have agreed to contribute £500 towards  the printing of the plan survey documents.

There is still much work to be done in designing and finalising the templates of the questionnaire.

We are currently planning that the questionnaire should be delivered to households over the Christmas and New Year period with finalisation of the report during February / March. This will then be sent to the group for approval.

21st April 2009

Hundon Parish Plan update to the Annual Parish Council Meeting 20th April 2009

The concept of a Parish Plan was put forward by the Parish Council in November 2008. the HPP is totally independent of any one organisation and will be written for the parish by parishioners.

The plan is an opportunity for the community to identify issues and aspirations that we, as Hundon folk, can action over the next 5 – 10 years to ensure our parish progresses and develops in a sustainable manner. It will form a base of lifestyle and current needs, but more importantly we will ensure that issues such as education, recreation, transport, housing and water management all link together within one plan. We intend to seek the views of every adult and young person in the village, to enable us to produce a plan based on the views from the whole community.

In January 2009 , a village meeting attracted over 140 people to put forward issues, needs and concerns on how our parish and village might become a better place from a few simple ideas. There were over 600 suggestions, with many voicing concerns over development and the implication this might have on the local infra-structure and the consequences on the environment such as flooding. But there were also many positive ideas such as a youth club , a community care scheme and a welcome pack for all new parishioners

The 22 strong steering group is representative of all sections of the community and all have put in a great deal of effort to kick start the plan. We have condensed many of the ideas of the parish into manageable groups that we will shortly release for consultation on the village web site.

We have successfully obtained £500 for the start of the planning process and have now applied for further grant funding to pay for the questionnaire and subsequent analysis that will be needed before we can present the report with recommendations to the parish Council in the late Autumn.

29th March 2009

Following a recent meeting of the steering committee An approximate Time scale was proposed:
   April:   Finalise issues and start questions
   May:   Top 100 questions and report structure. Suffolk acre workshop???
   June:   Questionnaire developed with suffolk acre
   July:   Questionnaire delivered to the parish
   August:   Collation and analysis
   September:   Report construction
   December:   Report back to Parish Council

27th March 2009

Hundon parish Plan ~ Making our community a better place

The steering group have been very productive in researching the issues that we need to consult the parish through a comprehensive questionnaire later this spring.
We have almost managed to get ahead of ourselves as we are hopeful that our grant application for utilising Suffolk Acre’s Parish Plan assessment toolkit is successful. We need in the order of £4000 to make this happen. This could take several more months. However, this allows us more time to develop the questions that we need to ask you.

Here are just two shortened examples of issues that you have raised during the consultation period : 

What we might need to ask about the Allotments

Facts
There are 34 used plots, but space for much
more. For many it is an unattractive area.
Nationally, there are waiting lists for 100,000
allotments
No water is available to potential veg producers
Proposal for 10 affordable homes on part of land

Possible Solutions
Advertising benefits of allotments and provision
of water
An allotment association
Explore funding opportunities for woodland
garden or park.

What we need to know
Future need for allotment purposes Views on its future use and/or development Would more people take up an allotment if water was provided?

How we might improve our local environment

Facts
There is no litter picker in the parish Overgrown hedges are a danger to traffic There is a demand for more circular village walks There are many possible projects to enhance our village and parish but a shortage of volunteers

Possible Solutions
Create woodland gardens in specific areas of
the parish
A register of volunteers
Local biodiversity surveys and publication

What we need to know
Should we encourage more wild flowers in and around the village and parish? Should we have improved litter collection? Should there be more information about our biodiversity on local footpaths?

13th March 2009

What’s happening now?

The now 20 strong steering group have got the arduous task of looking at over 20 key issues and needs of the village. This is what you have told us at the village meeting, the drop-in centre and through the suggestion box. The creative thinking and enthusiasm of the parish has been fantastic!

We now have to gather all the key facts and find evidence to take all these issues further, and develop them into real possibilities for future action. You will decide which of these we take forward and which are most important through the questionnaire which we will deliver to each household later this spring.

13th March 2009

March Outlook
After so much activity in January and February finding out what you think, we now are taking stock and putting some thought to what is possible amongst the many hundreds of suggestions that have been put forward. Understandably, many of the issues have focused on development, affordable housing, recreational activity and preservation of green space.

We now need to raise funds and are looking at a number of grant opportunities to be able to do a household questionnaire and subsequent recommendations to the Parish Council

The Parish Plan Steering Group would like to hear from you – your views on the future of the village.

A big thank you to all those who attended the Hundon Parish Plan meeting at the Village Hall on January 15th 2009.

The attendance was unprecedented and succeeded our very best expectations.

About 140 (13% of the parish population) parishioners attended and all had the opportunity to express their opinions (anonymously) about what they liked, didn’t like about the village as well as their views and opinions on how they wish the village to develop.

Following an introduction by Jamie Letts and speakers on Parish Plan Issues from Ian Poole of St Edmundsbury and Annette Gray of Suffolk ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) all had the chance to express their views on Post-It notes which were duly attached to the relevant large sheets around the hall.

The proceedings concluded with thanks from Jamie Letts (Parish Plan Project) and David Rowlins on (Hundon Parish Council)

The topics that they had the opportunity to express their opinions included:

•   Your Wish List
•   What is good about the village?
•   What is bad about the village?
•   Community Services and Facilities
•   Housing and Development
•   Roads, Traffic and Transport
•   Environmental & Conservation
•   Education and Schools
•   Information and Communication
•   Business & Employment
•   Utilities
•   Miscellaneous

Now the hard work begins – analysis of the responses received and preliminary work to shape the questionnaire for the full survey that will be distributed to all in due course

The Parish Council has asked for a steering group to develop a Parish Plan for the next 5 -10 years. There has been a fantastic response to the call for volunteers to help develop the parish plan over the next few months…..but there is always room for more!!

The Big Issues??

Development, buses, travelers, footpaths, ditches, flooding, climate change, football ground, Allotments, dogs, register of skills, doctor  surgeries, cricket pitch, shops, green space, youth clubs, schools, speeding, signs, employment, rural business, wind turbines, light pollution, litter, fly tipping, affordable housing, crime, vandalism, register of skills, more clubs, the environment. 

Parish Plan Project Issues 16/01/2009

A full survey will be issued to all at a later date

At the Parish council meeting on November 18^th, it was suggested that Hundon could benefit from a parish plan. The parish is growing and changing all the time, and many will have views on whether this is for better or worse. The plan would join up many of the important issues in the parish that concern us. About 3000 communities have a plan in the UK, including one third of parishes in Suffolk.

The Parish Council suggested that a group of willing volunteers form an independent steering group to initiate and canvas views from all who live, work or use the facilities in Hundon. It would develop a plan that addresses the future needs and wishes of the parish such as new housing, recreation and transport for the next 12 years to about 2020.

The project will run for six months and seeks to ask opinions of everybody within the parish on how they think Hundon should develop over the next decade. The parish plan will report back on the findings to the parish and suggest a set of key recommendations for our future development. It’s importance and influence can not be under estimated, as it will be a tool that can be used by the local planning systems.

The project will ensure that opinion is sought from all age groups. It will also ensure that all localities within the parish are represented. This is potentially a large but fascinating project and is the first of its kind that seeks to fully consult the views of all Hundon for our future.

As a result – the Village meeting has been arranged for Thursday January 15th at 7.30pm in the Village Hall

If you would like to find out more about Hundon Parish Project, ring Jamie Letts on 01440 786347 or Mick Humphreys on 01440 786415 or look for more information under “Parish Plan Project” on the Hundon Website