The Alderley Edge Parish Plan Committee invited local residents along to the Festival Hall on Wednesday to view and discuss the draft Parish Plan. A drop in session took place in the afternoon which was followed by a formal presentation and questions in the evening.
In June last year volunteers formed six working groups and have spent the past 16 months focusing on the issues raised as a result of the 2007 questionnaire. The groups were available to discuss these issues and their proposed solutions concerning security, facilities, amenities, the built environment, transport and youth facilities.
At the evening presentation Nicholas Ridings, Chairman of the Parish Plan Committee, explained that the aims of the night were "to tell us about what they have been doing, explain the next steps for the Parish Plan and to get more people involved in the plan going forward".
The Parish Plan is intended to convert the express wishes of the village in to strategies which will then be owned by the Parish Council and although not legally binding the plan should be able to influence local policies and organisations.
Nicholas Ridings informed us that about 120 people had attended the drop in session in the afternoon and we estimated that there were about 80 people at the evening presentation but a significant proportion of these were from the working groups or steering committee and I recognised a lot of people at the evening presentation who had been there in the afternoon. Therefore the consultation reached considerably less than 200 individuals, less than 4% of the population, which is a great shame. More worrying for me though was the demographic of those who attended, aside from my husband and myself you could count those under the age of 40 on one hand and that seemed the case for both the afternoon and evening sessions.
I have an enormous respect for those who have generously volunteered their time to make this happen, and as always those people who are willing to get involved are in the minority, but I have concerns that the Parish Plan will not be representative of the wishes of the whole community.
Whilst 817 questionnaires were returned in 2007 (2600 were delivered to local residents and businesses), from which the identified issues were taken, the solutions have come from a very small minority of 6 committee members and about 35 volunteers who formed the working groups.
I do not question that the issues identified are representative of the community in general but the working solutions have come from approximately 40 people and there is to be no further public consultation on the solutions, as Nicholas Ridings stated in his presentation, yesterday was "the final consultation before the draft plan is produced".
I make an effort to keep informed of what is going on in Alderley Edge and as far as I am aware the only group that has consulted the local residents regarding their working solutions, prior to Wednesday, is "Friends of the Park" - but maybe I have missed something.
Ironically one of the most controversial subjects yesterday was their proposal of opening a cafe in the park, yet they have actively consulted with local people, kept them informed about their ideas through local media and have obtained approximately 500 signatures from local people who want a cafe in the park.
From the comments on Wednesday night, taking in to consideration there were virtually no people there under the age of 40 with young children, you would have come away thinking that the community was totally against a cafe in the park.
The Parish Plan Committee and the working groups have very generously given countless hours of their time because they feel passionate about our village, but unless more of us get involved and are prepared to take the time to express our opinions then the Alderley Edge Parish Plan will not be representative of the community as a whole as intended, and some of the ideas put forward will no doubt be controversial.
The draft plan will be available in the next 6-8 weeks and we will put an electronic copy on alderleyedge.com. In the meantime if you want your say, this is probably your last chance, so download the summary draft plan and take a look or email [email protected] to make your views known.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
All credit to the working parties, but I only found out about the meeting through this website. Wandering around the hall, the only people interested in my opinions were "Friends of Alderley Edge Park" who I already support as in the summer I regularly play tennis with my 12 year old nephew, we would both love a cafe and good quality toilet facilities in the park. The other person interested in my opinion was the excellent youth worker.
It's all very good having public meetings, but standing around talking to your friends isn't going to get anything happening!!!!
All credit to this website, but lets get things done!!!
Tesco express is a disaster waiting to happen, we must stop similar disasters in our great village!!
Personally, I have worked hard to publicise the parish plan; most of my comments on this site, be they related to the Tesco development on the corner of Clifton Street, the Dobbies proposed development or other topics of local interest, I have continually endeavoured to make people aware that the parish plan is there and a way of getting involved and having a say in what happens locally. My comments may have fallen on deaf ears I fear.
I also contacted the Express newspaper (on Wednesday morning) to ask Betty Anderson if she was sending someone down to report on the consultation. She wasn’t aware that it was taking place but kindly sent a reporter as a result.
As you will know, having attended the meeting, the people actually involved in putting together the draft parish plan are small in number; so few local people were actually prepared to come on board and do anything after the initial consultation, some eighteen months ago.
Unfortunately (perhaps?), the draft plan will, in essence, become the parish plan for Alderley. It is however, a living document. It can be adjusted and amended so if you would like to have input into its future development, try to find time to get involved.
On a final note, thank you for supporting the Friends of the park. We worked extremely hard on our remit; the park and other local issues. We are extremely confident that the park could become the heart of the village and the cafe, run by a local business such as Granthams, could really make people sit up and see that positive things can happen locally; for the benefit of the whole community - a parish plan working at its best perhaps?
This is not a plan it is an expression of fear. It sets out a straitjacket within which some people seem to want to live.
I whoeheartedly agree with supporting local shopping, but the biggest decision taken without any consultation as far as I know, will see Tesco totally destroy small shops.
I agree with bringing the park to life....so why is it so hard for people to do it?
All of this is pretty fearful, negative, contradictory and seems to be about monitoring minor indescretions rather than creating a 21st Century village.
Why don't we create an alternative Parish Plan made of a set of aspirations to grow into backed up people taking action? The machinery of local government is about creating an illusion of participation. People make things happen.
It strikes me that more people need to get involved and stop grumbling!!
I'm pleased that a lot of people want to be involved. The plan is contradictaory though.....
"Village Shopping: encourage more 'local' shops; ensure the future of
the Post Office; enhance appearance London Road"
I agree with this wholeheartedly but Tesco is going to destroy at least four businesses, so the decision to allow it contradicts the plan.
"Child and Youth Facilities
The important issue of matching the needs of young people with the
aspirations of residents generally will be addressed to encourage:
pride in locality; after-school activites; annual events (concerts, May
Queen, etc.)"
The Parish Council actually took down the poster advertising an open day at Alderley Athletic and has refused to support their valiant attempts to renovate their pavillion. So I did what you suggest, I got involved and put my hand in my own pocket so that they could field more teams.
I'd like to see something much much more positive and aspirational. I'd also like to see the park transformed into a vibrant space by next summer.
Turning to the plan; a bit of personal history might be useful perhaps. When I was asked by my dear friend and neighbour, Kriss Coombes (76 years of age and the liveliest person I know!) if I could help by joining her group on the Parish Plan, I immediately agreed; she is a dear friend. On realising that we were only two in number, I was not deterred. However, when I looked at the detail of what we would be required to do as a group, I was a little disappointed to say the least.
As you may be aware, from the Dobbies questionnaire, if you want to achieve a certain result, you need to ask the right questions. Without going into detail about peoples’ responses and aspirations within the initial questionnaire of the Parish Plan, I quickly felt that whatever solutions we might propose, we would certainly not ‘please all of the people all of the time’; only a few people some the time.
On seeing the ‘matrix’ provided by all 8 groups and having attended a meeting in the spring, I realised that whilst most remedies were very sensible, well intended and inspirational, little would actually be achieved; certainly in the short term. Seemingly crumpy people would have to crumble even longer!
The fact is that the Parish Plan is currently a bit of a wish list; when the idea was conceived, Hazel Blears, the main protagonist in this, was on a quest to be seen to be devolving power down to communities. It all sounded very democratic but change takes time. Cheshire East is supposed to be giving more power to the Parishes, some local councillors have been highly frustrated by their inability to effect change; planning is one such area. In Alderley Edge we should be paying attention to planning issues; as you rightly say the Tesco development is an enormous disappointment for many.
The draft parish plan is available (see above) and there is still time to make comment and indeed contribute to its evolution.
One final point on the park; the cafe is a really wonderful idea, it would bring the community together and is something really tangible within the parish plan. It could be the catalyst that inspires people to work towards the 21st century village you mention above
For many in particular the under 40s, the council and its aims are simply an irritation which can at best be ignored, but sadly could successfully destroy the vibrant community which the car drivers finance and the bar and restaurant owners create.
Even if I look away from these two matters I find the council and it's plan lacking: who sanctioned, allegedly on the village's residents behalf, a monstrous shed on the corner of Clifton Street to be occupied by Tesco and furnished by deliveries from the very vehicles the long awaited bypass was supposed to eliminate?
And then the site opposite remains undeveloped...I am personally very satisfied with the prices and product range afforded by Somerfield and seriously dissatisfied by the scruffy, disfunctional and wastful use of the site the shop is part of.
Why were Tesco not offered an opportunity to pay to develop this site? Can't the Somerfield (COOP now?) people not develop something which will add value to Alderley?
In short I wonder PLAN? WHAT PLAN? I suspect nothing more than a collection of over 40s and more likely over 60s prejudices, with no long term benefit to the wider community who are frankly indifferent to the councillors efforts.
And for the record I am over 40, I drive a 4X4 which I often park in legal and sensble places in the village centre before spending a good part of my leisure time and also doing business in the offending bars and restaurants, from time to time dodging the oh so vigilant traffic wardens who make it so difficult to leave a car parked for a few hours during the day or later, overnight after enjoying a glass of wine.
So I say wise up local council - you seek support from younger people yet I know from a friend's recent experience it is virtually impossible to break into the council without being an out of touch "connected" 60 something....
Or alternatively just disband the local council and let a "higher" authoirty be the village's thorn in it's side.
We know they are aware of alderleyedge.com and some of these people are indeed members of the site so they receive our monthly newsletters.
Unfortunately to date they have chosen not to get involved, which is a great shame, so I cannot confirm that they have read the recent comments but I can confirm they definitely know about alderleyedge.com - so hopefully they are reading the views of the local community.
Months were spent obtaining and analysing the results of a questionnaire (like Malcolm above, a questionnaire which I never received) to collate the views of the community. 817 responses were received out of the 2600 questionnaires delivered, a 31% response rate - I would speculate the demographics of the respondents are skewed inline with the working groups.
Then over a year was spent coming up with solutions to the problems identified by the analysis of the questionnaire results. These were the solutions presented at the recent consultation meeting. There is a lot of subjectivity in how the results of the questionnaire have been turned into actionable solutions.
The intention of the parish plan is to put forward the "expressed wishes of the whole community". Having attended the recent meeting I fear that will not be the case. There has been inadequate consultation on whether the solutions proposed by the plan are actually reflective of the wishes of the wider community. For this reason, in my opinion, the process by which the parish plan is produced is flawed.
I would would like to see a questionnaire produced to determine whether the proposed plan is reflective of the whole communities wishes. I appreciate doing so would be a significant undertaking. Maybe the Internet can be used to get a better response rate, reach a wider audience, and keep costs to a minimum.
As part of the Dobbies questionnaire more people responded via the Internet than by any other means, and more people visited this web site yesterday alone than attended the parish plan consultation meetings. I would also add, to only do it online would not be inclusive, therefore paper based questionnaires could also be made available at the library. Awareness of the questionnaire could be generated via this web site, the schools and other avenues.
But back to my original point - which is people before structures - what's happened with Tesco, the lack of support shown to our young footballers, the hoops that people have to jump through to do great things in the park, the 'parking tax' - if we want a vibrant village we are going to have to do it ourselves despite the structures not because of them.
The village is increasingly the home to a number of sub-cultures. The Festival Hall is the domain of only one sub-culture yet the village belongs to everyone. So simply changing the time or whatever is not the point. The traditional forms of consultation and engagement are designed to meet the needs of only one sub-culture - which tends to result in more of the same.
If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.
Unfortunately the above and some 230 only attendees at the Parish Plan Consultation last week is utterly revealing and indicative of an apathetic, rather disgruntled, disparate community (I don’t include Martin in this, whose efforts and ideas continue to benefit local people).
The Parish Plan could help avoid such developments (Clifton Street) in the future if it is properly embraced. Undoubtedly, large companies like Tesco will still have the ability to appeal to higher authorities if CE were to fail to halt an application BUT if local people voice their opinion and a structure of local planning guide lines is in place, the powers that be will have to listen and take notice. The planning element of the Parish Plan is something that should be implemented and utilised.
Not sure about the feasibility of running the whole thing again but the Parish Council is currently considering the content and viability of the plan. The draft is still available for viewing; with all its perceive failings. It is, however, a living, evolving document and it is currently the only Parish Plan for Alderley Edge, More importantly, it is YOUR Parish Plan.
Remember: ‘Actions speak louder than words’.
Where park/community projects tend to fail is by taking an out-dated approach and falling below commercial standards. The standard of competition in this village is very high already so a successful park cafe must at least match it.
I would recommend that you take a look at The Pie in the Sky cafe at Bromley-by-Bow (not strictly a park cafe but it sets the standard for community type eating places).
Also The Sorrell Foundation (a charitable arm set up by Sir Martin Sorrell) does great work on bringing young people into the design process using some of the country's top architects and designers. As they found at Bromley-by-Bow if you engage people in the design process they treat it as their own and actively protect it - that's how to minimise the vandalism threat.