 |
We hope to launch the Parish Plan at the Village Fete on 5 July. In the meantime, the committee has been busy finalising the analysis from the Questionnaire. The way that the results have been analysed allowed us to look at how questions were answered according to age group, sex, where you live, and so on. On the whole there was very little significant difference in your views about the parish whether you are 24 or 74, male or female, live in Bakers Lane or Church Lane, Shillingford Hill or Mackney. One notable exception was graveyards – these became more important the older one gets!
Each of the seven working groups has now completed their analysis and these results have been passed onto the team that are writing the final report. A number of key themes have emerged. There are those unique issues that affect Shillingford Hill, Sires Hill, the main village or Mackney only and there are those issues that are relevant across the parish. The Parish Plan suggests that we are a strong, vibrant, close knit community with many different elements all helping to shape the way that the place thrives. We are a happy bunch and pretty content with our lot.
The biggest issue is the potential erosion of the countryside and the rural character of our settlements as Oxfordshire continues to boom and develop. This is not just an issue facing us but each and every parish in the region. There are many suggestions on how we can maintain our rural character and these will form a major theme running through the report. The way that we are trapped by passing traffic continues to be an important issue - whether this is turning out of the village onto the main road or crossing the Shillingford Road or A4130 to get to the Sinodun Hills. The on-going issue of dog mess, speeding cars, the success of the Village Stores, housing (the Parish Plan will inform the Neighbourhood Plan), the need for better playground equipment and more formal activities for young people are also important (to mention just a few).
It has been a long slog getting the Parish Plan to this stage but we are nearly there.
Jason Debney
<< Go Back
|
