Having decided to go ahead with creating a Neighbourhood Plan for Wilmslow, the Town Council is very pleased with the number of volunteers who have come forward to join the Wilmslow Neighbourhood Plan Group, which has been set up to bring about the delivery of a Neighbourhood Plan for the town.
The group has met twice in the past month with additional volunteers attending the second of these meetings and since then they have had more volunteers come forward so the group had grown quite significantly.
Speaking at the Town Council meeting on Monday, 15th February, Town Clerk Matthew Jackson said "I've been very encouraged by how many have come forward and by the quality of those who have come forward. We're creating a group which I think will progress nicely."
He added "It is very reassuring, we did have some concerns regarding how many volunteers would come forward and it's been quite refreshing. It must be 20 volunteers that have come forward for all manner of things and with all manner of backgrounds so that's great."
At the last meeting the Neighbourhood Plan Group appointed a Chair, independent of the town council, a gentleman called Brian Donahue and they will be making further appointments at their meeting this week.
Matthew concluded "It's great that the volunteers are helping us take this forward in such a positive way."
Neighbourhood Plans effectively replaced Parish and Town Plans when they were introduced as part of the Localism Act 2011, enabling communities to shape development in their areas. Cheshire East Council is currently working with more than 20 communities to bring forward neighbourhood plans and is encouraging many more to do so.
The formulation of the Plan will require a very wide range of skills both professional and personal - such as project management, development planning and data analysis experience as well as the interpersonal skills to gather information, distribute information and work within the team.
For information on how to get involved you should contact email Matthew Jackson or call him on 01625 402907.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
It's a start. Not enough, but a start.
You're right, some of the people will be bearded, sandal wearing, Guardian readers, but that is because there are bearded sandal wearing Guardian readers living in Wilmslow. However, I can confirm that the vast majority of them do not have beards and, at the meeting last night, I didn't notice any Sandals (but, I'll be honest, everyone had their feet under tables so I couldn't see properly).
I don't know how much you know about the Neighbourhood Plan but it isn't like the Local Plan which is being compiled by people in Sandbach who don't live in Wilmslow and don't care about Wilmslow. It is written by "normal folk" who live in Wilmslow and it goes to a yes/no referendum for a vote by the residents. If the residents vote no, it doesn't go ahead.
As you can see, it is ALL about the views of normal folk.
Please can you I urge you to get involved so you can ensure your views are included?
There is nothing to stop you coming to one meeting to see. If it's not for you, don't come again and just get take part in the consultation bit and the referendum when we get to those stages
If you do want to get involved, please do get in touch with the town clerk (Matthew). His email is on the town council website or me (details also on the town council website).
You are quite entitled to your opinions Clive, but I think you can rest assured that your fears are just that and aren't actually a reality.
You might be interested to know that there is at least one person who shops in Wilmslow who (I assume) is a reader of 'The Guardian'. That's because the person in front of me at the queue in Waitrose earlier today had a copy in their hand. But rest assured they didn't have a beard and were not wearing sandals. In fact it was a woman wearing flat healed shoes.
If you'd like to get involved in trying to help shape the future of the Town please do feel free to come and join us. Just email the Town Clerk (Matthew Jackson) and ask him to let you know when the date and location of the next meeting ().