Your voice

As Burton Latimer grows and changes, it is vital that future developments reflect the views of our local community. One way of making sure this happens is to involve as many people as possible in the creation of a Parish Plan for the town.

What is a Parish Plan?

Preparing a Parish Plan involves a step-by-step process that enables local communities to decide how to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of their area - and then to make it happen.

Why do we need a Parish Plan?

People have a sense of pride in their local community and its heritage. What’s more, evidence provided by the public in a Parish Plan really does influence decision makers - such as the town, borough and county councils - about a community's aspirations for the future.

Who is running the project?

A steering group of Burton Latimer residents - backed by the town council - was set up in November 2010 to oversee the development of our own Parish Plan. The group is aiming to use a variety of ways to seek the views of as many local residents as possible, before producing a final plan in early 2012 showing how the available knowledge and resources can be pooled to make things happen.

Why should you get involved?

Basically, this is our town and our future - so we need to make sure our choices count. Preparing a Parish Plan is one way that we can do this - but for the exercise to be worthwhile, it is important to have as much support, input and involvement as possible from the local community.

What will the project entail?

There are five steps to our Parish Plan project. We have already completed the first two steps, and expect to complete the third in December 2011

	The first step involved asking each household to complete a questionnaire - which was designed and tested by a group of Burton Latimer residents. The 22 questions covering nine themes gave people the chance to say what they value about living in Burton Latimer and how they think the experience of living and working in the town may be enhanced in the future. Some of the questions asked people to assign a quality rating to specific aspects of Burton Latimer, and others provided space for people to give their views. The questionnaire was delivered to all 3,200 Burton Latimer households in February 2011. » Download a copy of the household questionnaire
	Step 2 involved analysing the 706 returned questionnaires - an excellent response rate of 22%. Copies of the full analysis report are available at Burton Latimer Library and the Civic Centre. A short summary report was also distributed to all Burton Latimer Households in November 2011 with the Late Autumn edition of the local Councillors' quarterly newsletter - Burton Latimer News. » Download a copy of the full analysis report » Download a copy of the summary analysis report
	Step 3 will involve incorporating the findings from the household questionnaire, plus a list of proposed actions, into our emerging Parish Plan document. The steering group is holding a drop-in session at the Civic Centre on Saturday 3rd December 2011, so that local residents can ask questions, view and comment on the draft plan, and suggest further ideas for action.
	Step 4 involves publishing the final version of the Parish Plan - which is scheduled for early 2012. The Plan will be agreed by the town council and will set out what is to happen, who is going to make it happen - and when.
	Step 5 is the most important part of the project - and is all about ensuring that the actions listed in the Parish Plan document are implemented. This is a continuous, cyclical process in which the town council will check to see that all the agreed actions are progressing as expected, and will update the Parish Plan with further actions as new issues and concerns are identified.