Village Plan Committee Meeting	Present:	Apologies:
Thursday 3 rd July 2003 The Croft, Longparish	Jeremy Barber Christine Beresford Alix Bremridge Cheryl Dowler Mary Jo Darrah Gloria Goodliffe Fiona Gould Andrea Hulme Mike Johnson Paula Vize David Wright	Tom Bremridge Jo Clear Nona Harrison Jim Neal

General

A group of volunteers met to discuss the way forward with the Parish Plan. All felt that we have an opportunity here to positively influence the future of Longparish, by finding out what the community care about, like and dislike. However, there was also a general feeling that the process should not just be a talking shop, producing plans but no results. We want to see things happening and plans being implemented to maintain or improve the quality of life for the people of the village.

Constitution

A constitution for the steering committee was agreed. [See attached] This is a statement of what the committee intends to do and how we intend to do it.

Parish Plan Process

A high level plan for the next 18 months was agreed. [See attached]

Membership of the Steering Group

The membership of the committee was agreed and consisted of volunteers from those present or who had made their willingness known in advance but were unable to attend the meeting

Chair:	Fiona Gould
Treasurer:	Jeremy Barber
	Christine Beresford	Nona Harrison
	Alix Bremridge	Andrea Hulme
	Cheryl Dalmer	Mike Johnson
	Mary Jo Darrah	Paula Vize
	Gloria Goodliffe	David Wright

Grant application

It was agreed that the budget required for completion of this project would be in the region of £5000-7000. This will allow us to get the questionnaire and the eventual Plan printed and circulated (this will be the bulk of the cost), as well as providing some support for consultation events.

Consultation at School BBQ

The head teacher and the Friends of Longparish School have agreed that we can put up our exhibition at the school BBQ on Friday 18th July to try and obtain feedback from the parents, some of whom may not live in the village but are likely to have a keen interest in village issues, especially as they apply to the school.Alix has offered to lend her display boards and, between these and Christine’s we should have sufficient.

Set up will be from 16.00 and Mike, Gloria and Christine will assist Mary Jo.The exhibition/BBQ will start at 18.00 and Jeremy will support Mary Jo as soon as he gets back from work. Andrea will explain to parents in advance and encourage people to contribute.

Other villages

Jeremy brought information from the group that is leading the St Mary Bourne Parish Plan development. They are ahead of us (which is useful as we can learn from them!) and have already developed their main questionnaire. We will actively seek advice from other villages going through the same process to learn from their experiences as well.

Actions:

• Firm up on budget requirements – Fiona/Jeremy by mid July
• Complete grant application – Fiona/Jeremy by end July
• School exhibition – different coloured post-its for non villagers – Mary Jo
• Update for H&V – Fiona by 18 th July
• Send around useful links – Jeremy by end July

Next meeting:

Thursday 7 th August at 20.00 at The Croft, Longparish.

Attachments:

• Constitution
• Process

Constitution of the Longparish Parish Plan Steering Committee

Name

The Longparish Parish Plan Steering Committee (the committee).

Purpose

The purpose of the committee will be to act on behalf of the Parish Council and the village community to prepare a Parish Plan for Longparish and to encourage and monitor its implementation .   This will include:

1. Take responsibility for planning, budgeting and monitoring expenditure on the plan and report back to the Parish Council on these matters.   All receipts and payment will be passed through the Parish Council bank account.  
2. Identify and obtain sources of funding in addition to the Countryside Agency grant and the Parish Council if necessary.
3. Liaise with the relevant authorities & organisations to make the development of the plan and the actions deriving from it as effective as possible
4. Identify ways of involving the community & gather the views & opinions of as many individuals, groups and organisations in the village as possible.
5. Determine the types of survey and information gathering to be used
6. Be responsible for the analysis of the survey, interim consultation processes & the production and distribution of the final report
7. Establish & support working groups to explore specific areas for action and identify options for action
8. Identify the priorities and timescale for any local action in the action plan including lead organisations and potential sources of funding
9. Report back to the Parish Council and the community on progress, issues arising and outcomes from the exercise

Membership

The committee will include up to 12 members of whom no more than 4 will be members of the Parish Council. Membership of the committee will be confirmed at a public meeting from among volunteers for the role.   The committee may co-opt as necessary.

Officers

Initially the committee will elect a chairman and a treasurer. Further officers will be elected as considered appropriate by the committee.

Meetings

• The committee intends to meet monthly as a minimum, with additional meetings as necessary.
• Issues to be discussed at each meeting will be notified in advance by personal communication to committee members and on village notice boards/website.
• Matters will be determined by a majority of votes from those present, with the chairman having the casting vote if required.
• Quorum is 5.
• The secretary (or if there is no secretary or the secretary is absent, a person appointed at the start of each meeting) shall keep a record of meetings and minutes will be circulated to committee members within 14 days of each meeting.

Openness

The committee will operate in an environment of maximum openness, with all working documentation being available to any member of the community on request, and with all agreed minutes, proposals and reports being available on the website and village notice boards.

Published survey information will remain unattributable.

Working Groups

• The committee may appoint working groups as it considers necessary. Each working group must have a nominated chair, who does not have to be a member of the steering committee.
• The committee will be responsible for deciding the terms of reference of each working group.

Finance

• The committee will agree a procedure by which volunteers may claim back expenditure incurred during the process of producing the plan, and the rates they may claim.
• The treasurer shall keep a clear record of income and expenditure and report back to the committee and the Parish Council on the state of the committee’s finances.

Changes to the constitution

This constitution may be altered with the consent of two thirds of the committee.

Dissolution of the committee

• Upon dissolution of the committee, any remaining funds shall revert to the Parish Council to refund donors or disperse as appropriate.
• All relevant materials gathered and produced during the process shall be handed over to the Parish Council for their records or for archiving.