The Parish Plan

Parish Plans are a Government-supported initiative which gives people living in villages a way of deciding for themselves how they would like their village to develop.

Medstead is a very community-spirited Parish and had already put together its own Village Appraisal and Village Design Statement.

Following on from this, a group of volunteers undertook the task of preparing a Parish Plan. This involved consultation with every person in Medstead to find out what we wanted for our Parish over the next ten years.

The resulting Parish Plan provides a detailed description of the desires of the people of Medstead. However, is not simply a wish list. It also contains a detailed, prioritised action plan, stating what is to be done, by when and by whom, with examples of funding sources available to achieve these desires.

However, a plan by itself produces no consequences. Implementation of the plan requires individuals to put effort into making things happen.

The Parish Plan was also provided as an input to East Hampshire Community Partnership's Community Strategy 2008-2026 which guides joint work by councils, police, health services and voluntary agencies, and also into East Hampshire District Council's Local Development Framework (LDF), which replaces the Local Plan as the key planning document for the district, setting out how land should be used to meet community needs between now and 2026.

A summary of the actions from the Parish Plan's Action Plan is below.

Rural Ambience

• 1.2.1 Develop Welcome Packs.
• 1.6.1 Improve Parish communications.
• 1.6.2 Erect Parish Notice Boards on Boyneswood Road/Red Hill, Paice Lane & Lymington Bottom Road.
• 1.6.3 Increase the circulation of the Medstead Times.
• 1.6.4 Regular, relevant articles from County, District and Parish Councils, for example in the Medstead Times.
• 1.6.5 Hold more community-wide activities and events.

Roads

• 2.1.1 Prepare, publicise and execute a road maintenance priority plan.
• 2.1.2 Alleviate flooding of Hussell Lane, Greenstile/High Street, Roedowns Road & Paice Lane.
• 2.2.1 Prepare, publicise and execute a Parish footway plan.
• 2.2.2 Construct footways on Hussell Lane, Lymington Bottom Road & Boyneswood Road.
• 2.3.1 Construct footways on Roedowns Road North.
• 2.3.2 Road safety improvements at Medstead School and support the school’s Travel Action Plan.
• 2.4.1 Street lighting not to be installed.

Traffic

• 3.2.2 Conduct a traffic census and volume survey.
• 3.2.3 Introduce restrictions on HGV movements through the Parish and weight limits on Parish roads.
• 3.4.1 Reduce volume of horse boxes passing through the Parish.
• 3.5.1 Prepare, publicise and execute a Parish traffic calming plan.
• 3.5.2 Establish traffic calming to Lymington Bottom Road & Boyneswood Road.
• 3.6.1 Speed limits to be enforced.
• 3.7.1 Introduce 30mph speed limits on all Parish roads.
• 3.8.1 Introduce 20mph speed limit in village centre.

Amenities

• 4.1.1 Support Village Hall Improvements Plan.
• 4.1.2 Hold more community-wide activities for families.
• 4.2.1 Provide an all-weather playing surface.
• 4.2.2 Hold more community-wide activities for young people.
• 4.4.1 School catchment area to include all of the Parish.
• 4.5.1 Specific improvements to bus timetabling required to meet needs of residents.
• 4.5.2 Consider other forms of community transport.
• 4.6.1 Enlarge the play facilities.

Environment

• 5.1.1 Parish Council member to be responsible for environmental issues.
• 5.2.1 Parish Council to designate a footpath warden.
• 5.2.2 Re-designate Byways Open to All Traffic.
• 5.3.1 Ensure Village Green is well maintained.
• 5.4.1 Planned programme of verge, hedge, stile & footpath work. Replace stiles with kissing gates.
• 5.5.1 Prepare a plan for the maintenance of drains and ditches.
• 5.5.2 Clear drains and ditches regularly.
• 5.6.1 Reinstate a village pond. Create a Parish Environment Working Group.
• 5.7.1 Plan to reduce the Parish's carbon footprint by creation of a Greening Medstead Campaign.

Development

• 6.2.1 Quantify the demand for affordable housing in the Parish.
• 6.3.1 Publicise the settlement policy, planning criteria and planning objections.

Delivery

• 8.1.1 Create a Parish Plan Implementation Committee to oversee delivery of the Parish Plan.
• 8.1.2 Create a Communications Group to deliver improvements in Parish communications.
• 8.1.3 Create an Environmental Group to deliver improvements to the Village Green, reinstate a Village Pond and initiate a Greening Medstead Campaign.

Timeline

Development of Medstead's Parish Plan was an eighteen month journey. Key milestones along the way included:

• The Medstead Parish Plan Committee (MPPC) was formed in January 2007 by Medstead Parish Council.
• Presentations to, and consultations with, local groups and associations were held between May and June 2007.
• To establish the key issues and provide a focus for the development of main questionnaire a Love It / Hate It survey was distributed and the results assessed, between May and September, 2007.
• The Parish Plan questionnaire was distributed to all residents of Medstead Parish during October 2007.
• The questionnaires were collected, analysed and the key issues established between November 2007 and January 2008.
• A draft Parish Plan was then developed and a presentation given to the Annual Village Meeting, open to all Parish residents, in April 2008.
• The Parish Plan was updated with comments received at the Annual Village Meeting, before being adopted by Medstead Parish Council, subject to minor amendments, in May 2008.
• The final version of the Parish Plan was published and distributed to all residents of Medstead Parish in July 2008.
• Implementation of the Parish Plan's Action Plan began in September 2008, with the formation of the Implementation Committee.

You can download the Parish Plan here.