The Knapton Village Plan 2008
What is a Village Plan?
Parish plans are a form of community-led plan that determine the future of communities and how they can change for the better. They are documents that set out a vision for the future of a parish and outline how that can be achieved in an Action Plan.
The parish plan process may include:
- a village appraisal – a household questionnaire to assess needs and aspirations of local people
- participatory appraisals – hands-on interactive workshops
- business surveys
- the creation of an action plan
The Knapton Village Plan is a Parish Plan and was produced in 2008 to reflect the local vision of how local residents wanted to see our area change in the ensuing years. It was community-led and attempted to reflect the needs of our village and the surrounding countryside.
Development of the plan took almost two years and was led by the Knapton Village Plan Steering Group, supported by the Parish Council.
Within this document, you will find an overview of Knapton and its history, the results of the residents’ surveys and the Action Plans that have been drawn up on the back of these results.
In summary, our Village Plan is intended to reflect the collective views of all sections of our community in a statement of how it sees itself progressing over the next few years, identifying which features and local characteristics residents value or are concerned about.
Is the Village Plan important?
Parish Plans can be used to make sure local concerns and characteristics are taken into account before any planning decisions are made and can influence how local service are delivered. They are an important tool that can be fed into other plans and strategies such as Local Government Plans, where the needs of individual towns and villages and their surrounding countryside might not normally be adequately considered.
Our Plans to Progress
Various action plans were implemented to achieve the aspirations and needs of the community
LOCAL COUNTRYSIDE and the ENVIRONMENT
- Produce leaflets for each countryside walk around our village
93 residents (80%) would like to see a map of the village and public footpaths publicised in a leaflet and for display on village noticeboards
- Agree a planting/replacement scheme for the hedgerows and implement each year from 2009-2014
The hedgerows are increasingly falling prey to old age. A planting scheme is required to ensure the roadside verges will once again become tree lined
- Become involved in North Norfolk Community Partnership’s Active Travel Project
A large percentage of residents supported a footpath to Mundesley and 75 respondents said they would use it. 53 respondents would use a footpath to North Walsham
It spells out how our residents wish our village to develop and includes action plans to achieve the aspirations and needs of our community
TRANSPORT and HIGHWAYS
- Improve road safety in the village
It was clear from the questionnaire results that road safety within our village is a big issue
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
- Lobby the local bus company and Local/District Councils and provide a new village bus shelter
It appeared that many residents would use public transport if it was available more regularly to and from the village
AFFORDABLE and SHELTERED HOUSING
- Contact the North Norfolk District Council and ask for a Local Housing Needs Survey to be carried out
10 households have experienced a family member having to leave the village to find affordable or sheltered housing and in the next few years 13 households in the village may need affordable housing and 9 households believe they may require sheltered housing
- Include the views of our young residents when working towards a footpath to Mundesley
- Explore options for a suitable play area in the village
- Ask Knapton adults if they will volunteer to run a Youth Club and search for a suitable venue
The village is a good, safe environment in which to bring up children. However, some young respondents and their families are acutely aware of the lack of social facilities for them
INFORMATION and COMMUNICATION
- Create a village newsletter and trial for six editions
A number of people said they had trouble finding out what was going on in the village
RECREATION and COMMUNITY EVENTS
- Trial the most popular clubs from the list above for a period of six months from September 2008
Many respondents reflected the desire for improved facilities to accommodate their leisure needs
- Recruit volunteer groups to arrange these events
There was a great deal of interest in projects to develop social and community spirit
SPORTS FACILITIES
- Find suitable venues and recruit volunteers (… for additional sports opportunities)
20 households then made a variety of suggestions for additional sports opportunities
MADRA
Recruit volunteers to arrange sporting and other events
59 residents said they would attend social activities at MADRA. There was excellent support for (additional suggested) events
MAINS DRAINAGE
- Parish Council to ask Anglian Water to carry out a drainage survey
There were very mixed feelings about whether the village should have mains drainage, with many comments, both in favour and against the idea
The 2008 Village Plan – Achievements
We looked at the Action Plan that was last updated around a year after the Village Plan was implemented and looked at what’s happened since to show what was completed then and what has been completed since.
Click the Download link on the right to download it > > >