The Village Appraisal was completed in late summer 1999 and the Steering Group reported its findings to the village at a meeting in September. In addition a complete report was produced and made available to villagers via the Parish Council Clerk, the village hall and the church and a summary was delivered to every house in the parish.
The Parish Council took up the challenge of taking forward many of the recommendations, as has already been reported by the Chairman. In particular, it took note of the need to improve communication within the village and is now producing a bi-monthly newsletter - the Ampney Crucis Times - which is delivered to households alongside the parish newsletter. It is hoped that, as well as reporting the activities of the council, this will provide a vehicle for villagers and local organisations to communicate news and information. The editors, David Vessey and myself, have taken a flexible approach to the newsletter, developing it according to the needs and requirements of residents. Feedback about ACT would be very welcome.
The Parish Council has set up a committee to investigate further the options for bringing a shop back to the village, which was seen by many as being the single most important option in making the village a better place to live in.
One of the most pressing recommendations to take forward from the village appraisal was the organisation of a Millennium Event to take place this year, based on villagers' responses. Councillor Sally Hebbs volunteered to co-ordinate this and plans are now well under way for an event on the 8th July. The idea is to have a wide range of activities spread throughout the day, designed to appeal to everyone, starting with a peal of bells in the church and culminating in a barn dance in Hilcot End.
Road safety in the village was another area of concern to villagers. The Parish Council has taken various measures to look into this, including a speed survey, which have also been reported earlier.
Responses in the appraisal indicated that villagers were keen to maintain the appearance of their environment. An opportunity to participate in Cotswold District Council's Spring Clean campaign in April enabled us, with support from some villagers, to carry out a litter pick around the lanes surrounding the village.
A representative from Cirencester College attended the meeting in September and took up the challenge of organising courses in the village. So far, computer classes have been very successful, with a beginner's course and a short course for retired people being held during the Spring Term and a further beginner's course planned for this term. A yoga class attracted less interest, however, but the College has plans to use Ampney Crucis for other courses in the future, based on data from the appraisal.
New Neighbourhood Watch Groups are also starting up in the village, following a talk from David Bragg, Cotswold Neighbourhood Watch Officer and PC George Lager in February.
Sadly, the Mother and Toddler Group, which was revived in the autumn and seemed to be thriving, has recently had to close again, for various reasons. The organisers would very much like to be able to continue the group, but need more commitment from members in order to afford the costs of the Hall and insurance.
The volunteer sheets which were returned with the appraisal have already been very useful in identifying support and helpers, for example for delivering the newsletters and for the Millennium Event.
Although I'm not sure if this was direct result of the appraisal, I can't let the opportunity go by without praising the initiative and hard work of one resident, Frank Skinner, who has created a village web site on the Internet for Ampney Crucis. There is much of interest on this site and Frank is very willing to add more information from organisations and individuals to make it really useful. The Parish Council intends to use it as another means of reporting back to the village, and, as the government wants us all to be 'wired up' within the next five years, this will become increasingly important as a means of communication.
There are many smaller knock-on effects from the appraisal too numerous to go into in detail. The Parish Council's rapid response in taking forward some of the recommendations is commendable and many of the other organisations within the village, such as the church and the village hall committee, have also looked at aspects of the results as they apply to their responsibilities. I hope you will agree that this is a lot to achieve in the few months since the village appraisal was completed. There is still a long way to go and many of the recommendations have yet to be addressed, but this all takes time. We will be able to draw useful information from the results for many years to come.
Fran Huckle
Chairman
Village Appraisal Steering Group
May 2000