The Informer - Special Supplement - December 2010
Dear Residents of Todwick,
The Informer, as you know, is our village magazine - designed so that Todwick Parish Council (TPC) can keep you updated about what is going on, both in and around the village.
This Special Edition is a little different...
...We want to encourage you to provide us with information so a Plan can be drawn up to improve the facilities and services that our village can offer to its residents - now and in the coming years.
You will be aware that there is a lot of change in government thinking at present. More power and decision making will be devolved down to local community level, which will give us a wonderful opportunity to shape our own village activities and services. We urge you to recognize this opportunity and to contribute your ideas and opinions.
Back in 2004, we drew up a Parish Plan. Part of it generated useful statistics, such as how many residents/households we have in Todwick, what the age groups were, etc. There was also a lot of information about what the residents at that time wanted - what they liked or disliked, what services or activities they wanted or needed, and so on.
The TPC used that document to shape its decision making and, as a result, there have been some significant developments over the last few years. For example,
- 2007 saw a major re-furbishment and extension of our Village Hall costing a third of a million pounds and just before that the building of a Church Hall in the church grounds.
- Both of these buildings now offer a very wide range of activities designed for all ages and which also successfully attract people from well outside Todwick.
- 2009 brought a £40,000 re-design of the kiddies play area on our recreation ground, which was very well received, together with an overhaul of our current sports pavilion to help "bridge the gap" until more modern facilities are available.
The TPC is currently striving to obtain funds for a brand new sports pavilion, which will not only have all the modern facilities needed, but will also be more resistant to anti-social behaviour, (a continuing drain on parishioners' money). Providing real evidence that a sports pavilion will provide enhanced benefits for the community will be crucial to any funding bid we make, so we really need you to tell us your requirements and give us support to make these aspirations a reality.
What next?
Over the next few months we aim to draw up a new Village Plan to give us direction in looking forward to the next decade. This is not a paper exercise. We want it to be YOUR plan and give you the opportunity to contribute to help shape what happens here in Todwick now and in future years.
The TPC are aware there are two particular age groups in the village - the young people in Todwick and the older section of our community - for whom perhaps more services could be developed. We are particularly interested to receive feedback from those particular sections and will be considering how best to ensure their voices are heard.
The TPC would like to know:
- what you like?
- what you don't like?
- what you want changing?
- what you would like to see happen?
- what events would you like to see arranged?
- should the village become "greener"?
- do you have any traffic or transport concerns?
- do we need more facilities or services in the village?
and so on...
Please can we ask that you start to think about these ideas and concerns and any others that you may have so that when a questionnaire drops through your letter box early in the New Year you can give us your opinion and views? When it arrives we need your help by spending just a few minutes of your time to fill it in and return it to us - there will be a prize draw of £10 vouchers for the first five drawn from those completed questionnaires returned to us. More about that and how to get your completed questionnaires back to us in the New Year!
Remember, when it is published, the work will not stop there. There will be projects embarked upon to take forward your most pressing concerns and ideas. So, if you are interested in becoming involved in a particular project we'd love to hear from you...
We want this to be YOUR plan.
"If you don't ask - you most certainly don't get".