Felmersham Parish Council

Undertaking a Parish Plan under The Countryside Agency’s Vital Village initiative was first considered at a Felmersham & Radwell Parish Council meeting in mid 2003. Subsequently Councillors Hartop, Poulter, Spoor and Thomas undertook a feasibility study working as a Project Group in close co-operation with Zoe Ashby from the Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity. Enthusiasm within the group resulted in a public meeting, attended by 52 people, in February 2004.

This meeting outlined the purpose of undertaking a Parish Plan, the advantages for Felmersham & Radwell and what would be involved, as well as conducting a ‘post-it’ exercise of parishioners likes and dislikes. Thirty residents expressed an interest in developing a Parish Plan. During April 2004, a second meeting was attended by 12 of these interested parishioners and 6 enthusiastic individuals volunteered to form a Steering Group to take the project forward.

Despite the government withdrawing grant funding for Parish Plans at the eleventh hour, Felmersham & Radwell Parish Council stepped in with a £500 budget allocation. Support for this action was received in a letter from the MP for North Bedfordshire, Alistair Burt. This Parish Plan was produced with the assistance of a grant received from DEFRA through the Bedfordshire Rural Affairs Forum.

The Steering Group met for the first time in May 2004 and agreed a constitution, appointed officers and set the objectives of the project. These were:

• to form the basis of a Parish Plan
• to inform local and regional government councils and agencies of the views of local residents
     and to influence their decisions on issues that affect the local community
• to identify any social needs which might be met by voluntary efforts and grants available for
     community schemes
• to provide a ‘snapshot in time’ of the community, against which any future change can be
     measured.

The Steering Committee

Chairman: Peter Hartop
Secretary: Margaret Coomber
Treasurer: Laurie Mills
Publicity Officer: Carol Stork
Logistics: Maggie Spoor
Member: May Mills

Paul Keeble, whilst not a permanent member of the Steering Committee represented Radwell parishioners during the Project.
Ken Shrimpton volunteered to maintain a Vital Village Parish Plan website within www.felmersham.net.