Hilton Parish Plan

WHY SHOULD HILTON BOTHER HAVING A PARISH PLAN?

6. Although central government is encouraging villages to establish a Parish Plan, Hilton does not have to have one.  However, our village has a concerned and active community and the Parish Council feels that a Parish Plan is essential if the village is to develop as people want.  The Council wanted to exploit the potential of a Parish Plan to influence the way Hilton develops in coming years.

7. Three other factors were also considered in deciding to write a Parish Plan:

• First, in recent years money has been made available for local projects from a variety of sources: eg district councils, county councils, the National Lottery and various trust funds.  Increasingly, these organisations require communities to demonstrate that a clear need exists for a project before they will make a grant.  A Parish Plan identifies such needs and justifies them.

• Second, in order to increase the quality of decision-making at local level, central government is asking parish councils to acquire 'Quality Parish' status.  One of the requirements of Quality Parish status is that the council must show the existence of a Parish Plan. (The 'Quality Parish' scheme is sponsored by the Government.  It encourages closer working between parish councils and imposes on them a more disciplined working regime than has traditionally been the case.)

• Third, and by no means least, the steering group saw a Parish Plan as a defence against inappropriate, centrally imposed change.

HOW WAS HILTON'S PARISH PLAN DRAWN UP?

8. In early 2003, a steering committee was formed to draw up a Parish Plan for Hilton.  It numbered 13 people - two of them parish councillors.  The group's full membership is listed in the acknowledgements.

9. We submitted an application for funding to the Countryside Agency and received a grant of just over £3,700.  The Parish Council contributed a further £266.

10. We sought the views of over 25 village organisations, ranging from the Baby and Toddler Group to the Senior Citizens' Club.  We also used Feast Week and a presentation in June 2004 to publicise the project and involve parishioners.  However, the principal means through which we determined the collective village view was a questionnaire distributed in January 2004 to every household.  A separate questionnaire was provided for younger Hilton residents aged between 11 and 17.  There was an exceptionally high response rate. Over 75% of the adult questionnaires were returned and, gratifyingly, 63% of the youth questionnaires.  Together, these provided the steering committee with a wealth of statistical data (Annex B), comment and opinion.  Analysis of responses took several months.