A Parish Plan for Frome Valley
Cattistock, Chilfrome, Frome St.Quintin

Guidance for parish and town councils From the Countryside Agency 

What is a Parish Plan?

A Parish Plan is a statement of how the community sees itself
developing over the next few years. It: 
• reflects the views of all sections of the community;
• identifies which features and local characteristics people value;
• identifies local problems and opportunities;
• spells out how residents want the community to develop in the future;
• prepares a plan of action to achieve this vision.

Why produce a Parish Plan?

It is Government policy to increase individual participation in public
life and for public bodies to consult communities about the delivery of
services. As part of this policy of “active citizenship” the Government
wants to give more power to parish councils to decide what’s best for
their own communities.
If you as a parish council can show you are taking your future
seriously, a Parish Plan might increase your chances of getting local
authority support to enhance your parish’s economic, social and
environmental well-being.
It will give you the evidence to help inform policy-making by a
range of organisations, from the local planning authority to police and
health services. It will also help you to develop and maintain effective
working relationships with all those outside bodies who provide
services to your community, now or in the future.

Who decides?

The Parish Plan gives everyone a chance to say what they think about
the social, economic and environmental issues affecting their
community, and how they’d like to see it improved in the future. It is
important that the whole community is involved in producing the
plan, not just those people who usually come along to parish
council meetings.

What’s it leading to?

The Parish Plan needs to consider local problems and opportunities as
a whole. It makes the links between these issues and sets out a broad
vision for the future – where the parish wants to be in 5 or 10 years
time. But achieving this vision will require action. This includes both:
• action which the parish itself proposes to undertake;
• policies, decisions and action carried out by other bodies which the
plan might influence.

What does the plan look like?

There is no standard format for a Parish Plan and no prescriptive list of
the subjects it should address. It is up to the community to set out its
vision, decide which issues it would like to tackle, agree priorities for
action and present the information in a way that is interesting and
attractive to everyone.
A practical way to present the plan could be in two parts:
1. A detailed report explaining how the consultation has been carried
out and conclusions drawn. It could take various forms, including
photographs, documents, sketches or even a video.
2. A succinct action plan clearly setting out what needs doing, when,
why, by whom and at what cost.

We’ve done all this before!

Many parish councils have had experience of producing a communityled
action plan such as a village appraisal, a housing needs survey or a
village design statement. A Parish Plan will bring all this together and
create a basis for action in future. But it is important to review and
consult the whole community to make sure the issues and actions
identified in previous surveys are still relevant, especially if previous
action plans were produced more than three years ago.

Summary

• Parish Plans are local, action-based plans which address a range of
problems and opportunities affecting rural communities.
• They can include social, economic and environmental issues.
• The whole community should be involved in producing the Parish
Plan, with the parish council taking lead responsibility.
• The Parish Plan must be consistent with related policies set out in the
local authority’s planning documents and local strategic partnerships.
• The plan should be based on information provided through survey,
research, consultation and community participation.
• A grant to assist with the production of Parish Plans is available from the
Countryside Agency. Advice and help with producing the plan and
 involving the community are available from the rural community council.
• Parish Plans should identify actions which can be taken forward
by the parish council, by other individuals and groups within the
community or by other service providers and statutory bodies.
These should have a clear focus on Who? What? Why? How? When?