Parish Plan

Easthope, Shipton & Stanton Long Parish Action Plan

INTRODUCTION

In early 2008, the combined parishes of Easthope, Shipton and Stanton Long (which incorporates the village of Brockton) embarked on the process of producing a Parish Plan for the community.

A Parish Plan is a comprehensive document which sets out a shared vision of how a community wants the Parish to develop over the next five to ten years. Parish Plans have been used both locally in Shropshire, and by communities nationally to:

Highlight action that can be taken by the community, for the community
Pool the knowledge, skills and experience of community members
Identify support required from local services providers to preserve and improve aspects of the community
Influence decisions by authorities and service providers

With the help of a small grant from the Community Council of Shropshire a group of community members from across the parishes came together to undertake a consultation process to establish the views of the community. This included a household questionnaire and a community consultation event.

The findings from the householder questionnaire highlighted a number of issues. A number of ideas and options were explored to address these issues, with opportunities for community members to express their views about the best course of action. Findings from this activity gave rise to an overall action plan, providing a framework for achieving the aspirations of the community through a series of realisable actions.

We would like to thank the residents of the Parish who took time to share their views and members of the Parish Council and its Clerk for their hard work during the process. Further thanks are extended to the Community Council of Shropshire, Shropshire Council and the former Bridgnorth District Council for the support provided.

BACKGROUND TO THE AREA

The communities of Brockton, Easthope, Shipton and Stanton Long are situated in the Corvedale and along Wenlock Edge in South Shropshire.

The facilities used by these communities are distributed throughout the Parish. These include three churches in Easthope, Shipton and Stanton Long, a thriving primary school in Brockton and The Feathers Pub and restaurant in Brockton. A number of groups regularly use the village hall in Shipton, including a pre-school and the WI.

The area has several farms, both livestock and arable, though otherwise very little industry. At present the area is without a post office and there are no shops.

The parishes sit within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, an area covering 802 square kilometres.

At the time of the 2001 census there were 436 residents in the area living in 165 households. More than half of these were between the age of 30 and 59 years.

Easthope, Shipton & Stanton Long Parish Action Plan

THE PROCESS

In spring 2008 members of the Parish Council came together with the Community Regeneration Officer at the Community Council of Shropshire to develop a detailed questionnaire that could be used to canvas the opinion of local residents. This questionnaire focused on ways of improving quality of life in the Parish in the following areas:

Roads and transport
Community identity and communication
Family life
Housing and development
Industry, services and employment
Life for children and young people in the Parish
Appearance of the Parish
Environmental issues
Community Safety and Security

The questionnaire also provided an opportunity to share other thoughts about the Parish.

A good rate of response was received, giving the findings of the questionnaire statistical significance as a means of fairly representing the views of the community.

Opinion generally was characterised by contentment and satisfaction with the quality of life and facilities in the Parish, however a number of areas for improvement were identified:

Appearance of the Parish

This was the issue that respondents felt had the most important impact on their lives and responses included calls for cleaner signs, reduced litter, more trees and wild flowers and more recycling opportunities.

Environment

This was the second most important issue for respondents, in particular the need for improved maintenance of rights of way.

Traffic

Speeding traffic was regarded as a significant issue for the community, with many respondents sharing additional comments regarding black spots and problems with drivers not observing existing speed limits.

Roads Maintenance and Drainage

Inadequate road maintenance and poor road drainage were cited as two important issues

Public Transport

Respondents were concerned about a shortage of public transport.

Crime and Safety

Whilst respondents were overwhelmingly happy with their feeling of safety while out and about in the Parish, there was concern about the security of possessions and a commitment to joining a scheme to collectively protect the Parish.

Community Identity

There was call among the respondents for an increase in community information and activities, including Parish events and a newsletter.

Housing

On the issue of housing development opinion was extremely divided with strong support for increased community housing and almost equally strong support for a curtailment of any further housing development in the area.

Business

There was a strong feeling of support for the development of farming, small shops, home-based businesses and countryside sporting enterprises within the Parish as a means of offering services and employment prospects to local people.

Young People

Among the younger respondents there was a feeling that there are not enough activities for young people in the Parish.

Using the questionnaire data, the Parish plan group prepared a series of options for addressing these issues.

On 7 June 2008 residents came together at Shipton Village Hall to find out about

the community's response to the questionnaire and to share their views on

some of the options which could be adopted to address its findings. This informed the final action plan table, presented below:

ISSUE	ACTION	PARTNERS	TIMESCALE
Calls for improved appearance of the Parishes	Set up an environment group to work on; cleaner signs, reduced litter, more trees and wild flowers, footpath maintenance and more recycling opportunities	Environment Group, Community, Parish Council, Local Authority	By Summer 2011
Speeding traffic	Parish Council to continue feeding in community concern about speed limits in the villages and in particular Brockton near the school to the Highways Department	Parish Council	Ongoing
Speeding traffic	Explore the possibility of purchasing a repositionable flashing speed sign to move around various locations in the surrounding area	Parish Council, Neighbouring Parishes, Local Joint Committee, Local Authority	By Autumn 2011
Poor road maintenance	Residents to report issues within the Parish to the Parish Council and the Parish Council to continue lobbying local council to remedy problems.	Community, Parish Council, Highways Department	Ongoing
Not enough public transport	Community Bus Scheme to advertise more prominently in Wenlock Herald to increase use in community, encouragement of demand driven services, however also acknowledge that utilisation of services is central to the argument for greater service provision.	Community Bus Scheme, Community	Ongoing
Concern over security of possessions	Create an active Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and support of the Local Police 'Farm Watch' initiative. Parish Council members to be informed by local Police of relevant issues and to disseminate information in the community.	Police, Parish Council, Community	By Dec 2011
Call for increase in community information and more community activities	Parish Council to continue putting updates of their activity in Wenlock Herald. Look into new community/village notice boards and encourage use of same. Support and development of community activities and events utilising existing infrastructure within the Parish, including school facilities, village hall and churches.	Parish Council, Wenlock Herald, Community	Ongoing
Divided opinion on housing development	Work to continue on what housing development, if any, is needed and supported by the Parish, with a view to possibly formulating a housing strategy for the area and 'feed in' to wider Area Development Plans and Policy.	Local Authority, Parish Council, Community	Ongoing
Community support for specific businesses in the Parish	Parish Council to support the development of farming, small shops, enterprise, tourism and home based businesses and countryside support.	Parish Council	Ongoing
Not enough activities for young people in the Parish	Identify what activities young people want in the Parish and look for ways to support and develop new activities. Be supportive of community led ideas and encourage increased use of the new sports facilities at Brockton school. Seize opportunities for grant aid to help develop new projects when they arise.	Parish Council, Local Authority, Brockton School, Community	By Spring 2012

Easthope Shipton and Stanton Long Parish Council

Contact Details

Mr Robin Gibson 01746 785438

Mr Simon Y Brown 01746 785665

Mr Brian D Williams 01584 841217

Mr Jonathan Taylor 01746 712602

Mr Keith P Jones 01746 785664

Mr Philip C Wadlow 01746 785676

Clerk Mrs Jayne Madeley BA FILCM 01746 785571

email:jayne.madeley@btopernworld.com