Press releases
YOUTH GROUP
Apr 2010
A Youth Group has been started in the village through the efforts of the Paulton Youth Action Group, which comprises representatives of B&NES Council Youth Service, B&NES Ward Councillors, Paulton Parish Council, Avon & Somerset Police and the Community Plan Steering Group.
The youth group now meets on Monday evenings in the Village Hall Meeting Room from 5.30pm to 8.30pm, although alternative premises may have to be found after September.
Now that the lighter evenings are with us, there will be a demand for more outdoor activities, and the Youth Workers would be grateful for volunteers to help out. There is also a need for volunteers to act as “Friends of Paulton Youth Group” on fundraising and other support activities.
Any Paulton residents interested in helping either as a volunteer Youth Worker, or as a “Friend” of the Youth Group are asked to contact Val Smith of B&NES Youth Service on 01225 396980, or at val_smith@bathnes.gov.uk
Feb 2010
The Steering Group would like to thank everyone for the interest they have shown in the development of Paulton's Community Plan over the last 3 years.
We now have a draft plan, comprising some 70 projects aimed at improving the quality of life for Paulton residents. This draft was shown publicly for the first time at the Drop In session held on 16 January. Some of you attended that meeting, and let us know that you would be interested in taking forward some of these actions.
The Steering Group is now working to finalise the plan, in preparation for publication. After publication, the Steering Group's job will be finished. However, of the 70 projects, a small number can only move forward as a result of community action. These include:
• strengthening the existing Neighbourhood Watch scheme
• founding a community café/internet café
• creating and maintaining a community web site
• starting a social enterprise, eg an odd-job or gardening service
• arranging a community clean up initiative
• conducting a survey aimed at improving the quality of “Meals on Wheels”
The Steering Group would like to invite anyone who has an interest in the implementation of the plan to attend a meeting on Wednesday 17 February, in the Wesley Hall, Park Road, Paulton, commencing at 7.30pm.
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss with you how best to take forward these projects that require community action and which one(s) you may like to be involved in.
Tea and coffee will be provided and we expect the meeting to finish at 9.00 pm.
Paulton has a history of very active community groups and residents' involvement in making the village a good place to live. This is an opportunity to build on that and find new ways of responding to the views of villagers, gleaned from our extensive questionnaire. We look forward to seeing you there.
Best wishes,
Kerr Stirling
Chairman, Paulton Community Plan Steering Group.
Dec 2009
"As many of you will recall, we conducted our major consultation exercise with the issue of a 40 page questionnaire last summer. The response of 30% was above average for a village the size of Paulton. Because we had such a good response, and because the questionnaire was so comprehensive, it took the ten of us on the Steering Group much longer than anticipated to capture all this data electronically, so that it could be analysed. The analysis is now complete, and some sample results from some of the questionnaire sections are given below. Please note that, although we had over 600 questionnaires returned, not everyone answered every question. Therefore, the percentages quoted below are based on the numbers of people who answered each question. "
87% of respondents feel that young people raised in Paulton should be given priority for a certain percentage of affordable housing on the Polestar site. 60% of respondents agreed that the proposed expansion of the housing stock on the Polestar development is good for Paulton. 81% do not want any further development in Paulton within the next 10 years. 90% think it is very important to keep the green corridor between Paulton and Hallatrow, Farrington & Midsomer Norton. 76% support the creation of cycle/bridleways connecting Paulton to the Greenway, Midsomer Norton & Radstock. 50% of respondents never use local bus services. 82% support the extension of the 30mph limit from Withy Mills to Camerton Village Hall. 27% say their children get to school by car. 22% said they would consider becoming a volunteer with a local group. 71% agreed that there is a sense of community in Paulton. The average satisfaction score with life in Paulton was 7 out of 10.
We now have a draft Action Plan based on the results, which recently has been offered to the Parish Council for their support and comment. The Parish Council has undertaken to respond to us by mid-November, by which time we will also have initiated discussions with B&NES Council and many of the other agencies, groups & individuals identified as actionees within the Plan, with the aim of getting their commitment to the actions we have identified.
Although we sought additional volunteers to assist with the data capture and analysis phase, the Steering Group decided that it would be better to manage this within the group. However, we thank all those who put their names forward and ask that anyone interested in taking any of the improvement ideas through to implementation contact the Steering Group via our website (www.yourpaulton.org), or by calling the number given below, or come along to the Open Meeting which we hope to hold in January, to present the Community Plan to residents. Involvement is your chance to make a difference to “Your Paulton”.
Kerr Stirling
Chairman, Paulton Community Plan Steering Group.
April 2008
Questionnaire on parish future
Parishioners and businesses in Paulton will shortly be asked to complete a major questionnaire on the future of the parish. This is an opportunity for local people to influence how their parish will be developed. It is particularly apt at this time, in view of the major developments planned for the ex-Polestar printing works site, which closed at the end of 2005, with the loss of some 300 jobs.
A Steering Group of local residents was set up last year to manage the Community Plan project, following the Government’s initiative to improve local democracy, as set out in the Rural White Paper, published in November 2000.
Kerr Stirling, Chairman of the Steering Group said “We made informal contact with local residents, businesses and service providers during last year. This was to find out what issues people are concerned about in the parish, what features they are happy with, and those things which they would like to see improved. We had over 250 inputs from residents and this has been invaluable in designing a questionnaire that will be sent out to all residents, businesses and service providers in the parish during April. All respondents will be entered into a draw for a prize of £25.00. We expect to publish the Paulton Community Plan in autum 2008, following analysis of the questionnaire responses.”
The Steering Group would particularly like to encourage local businesses and service providers to put forward their views by completing the questionnaire, as few came forward in response to the initial letter alerting them to the consultation.
The Community Plan will identify a series of initiatives, both large and small, which will be aimed at improving the overall quality of life for local residents, and improving the economic environment for local businesses and service providers. Before publication, the plan will be discussed with and endorsed by the Parish Council. Once published, the plan will inform and guide local authority planning decisions. It is therefore important that the Plan reflects the views of all stakeholders in the village whether you are a resident or running a business or service. Your views will count!
Steve Nolan, Steering Group member responsible for producing the questionnaire said “We have set our sights high in terms of the response from the parish, since we believe that the Community Plan is a major opportunity for local people to influence the future of their community. We therefore ask that people respond positively by completing and returning their questionnaires”.
Update 11 April 2008
Delivery of the Questionnaire has begun and should be coimpleted during the week ending 19th April 2008. See the Questionnaire FAQ page for details of how to obtain electrionic copies of the relevant questionnaire. Please let us have your completed questionnaires back by the 18th May 2008 at the latest. Collectors will also call during the next month.
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June 30th 2007
CALL TO VILLAGERS - HAVE YOUR SAY IN PREPARING PAULTON’S COMMUNITY PLAN
Residents in Paulton have recently committed to develop a Community Plan for the village. Twelve local people have formed a Steering Committee and are actively seeking views from residents about the issues that concern them. The initiative was launched at the recent Village Day, where people were invited to say what they liked about the village and what improvements they would like.
The group have agreed that their mission is to ‘create a Community Plan for Paulton which will deliver the needs of its residents, businesses and other stakeholders, mindful of the requirement to protect future generations’. Over the summer the group will have a presence at village events and will be contacting local community groups to gather their views as to what issues need addressing. So far issues of concern have included traffic and the need for facilities for young people.
In the autumn a questionnaire will go out to all residents and businesses to ensure that everyone in the village has the opportunity to have their say. The group is committed to getting the views of all villagers and will be actively working with the schools to ensure that young people have their say.
A website has been set up which will allow people to give us their comments on-line. The site, www.yourpaulton.org, also gives details of the mission statement and vision. If you don’t have internet access you can contact us by writing to the Community Plan Steering Committee, c/o The Village Hall, Farrington Rd, Paulton, BS39 7LW.
Kerr Stirling, Chairman of the Steering Group, said: ‘This is a really exciting opportunity for the people of Paulton to speak up about how they would like to see the village develop over the next 5 years. Paulton has a very active community life and we intend to build on the enthusiasm and ideas of local people. There will be lots of opportunities for people to help in gathering villager's views and if you would like to get involved please let us know.’
The work of the group is being supported by Community Action who have staff devoted to assisting parishes to prepare their own Community Plans. Community Plans allow local people to voice their views about how they wish to see their villages develop, what issues concern them and come up with new initiatives for improvements. The local authority, B&NES, is committed to referring and taking note of Community Plans when considering strategic development issues in the area, including all planning applications.