Warmington Village Design Statement
Minutes of the fourth meeting of the Steering Group,
held on 1 May 2002, Village Hall
Steering Group Members present: Annette Solt, Karen Ure, Andy Crouch, Bob Davey, Robert Brant, Jane Brant, David Constant, William Du Croz, Judy Stroud.
Attending: Andrew Harland, John Wilkinson, David Edsall, Paula Bosworth, Mary Hodges, Derek Thomas, Mike Dixon, David Stroud, Jason Jibb, Sammy Ure.
Welcome. William welcomed everyone and introduced Jason and Sammy who said how much they had enjoyed the Workshop. They had learned a lot about the village and thanked everyone for organising the day. Sammy has been reading some books on Northamptonshire and finding out a lot about the village. He would like to share this at the next talk by Robert Bosworth. Jason was unhappy about the clothing recycling bin being placed outside the post office.
Apologies. Steve Solt, Amy Boud, Graham Yeatman, Peter Crouch.
Minutes of the last meeting held on 15 April: These were agreed.
Newsletter number 2. Proposed contents ? article by Colin Ray, ENC; article by Jane Blackford, an independent journalist who attended the Workshop; a 'thank you' to everyone involved with the Workshop; diary of events, article from Jason and Sammy and maybe a resident's view of events to date if there is space. Quotes from the Countryside Agency review of Down Ampney VDS.
Production. Steve Solt has offered to put the newsletter together and Robert Brant offered to undertake the printing. Mary Dixon has offered to help with distribution.
Timescale. Production by 14 May with distribution on 26 May.
Events. Village Walk with Steve Solt. 16 May at 6.30pm
History of Warmington ? Part 2 by Robert Bosworth. 30 May at 7.30
Display for Robert's talk and 3 June at Village Picnic. Need to have questionnaire prepared to accompany the display to get feedback to initial proposals. As the 19 ? 30 age group was largely absent from the Workshop the exhibition needs to target them as well. Bob Davey suggested writing to Valerie Machin about a display of children's work on the village. This was agreed.
Farm Walk with George Barker ? first in a series probably on 8 June.
Oral History of Warmington ? at least five young people have expressed an interest in collecting reminiscences on tape.
Heritage Open days 13 ? 16 September. Chance to have display on view again and to promote more concrete ideas and the consultation draft. Possibility of a talk on l 3 Sept on the History of the Church. ACTION David Constant to put idea to PCC events committee.
Draft for Consultation ? prepared by beginning of October.
Fundraising. There have not been any positive replies to letters so far. Robert has contacted Awards for All and it appears that they can fund £3000 ? £4000. They will need to see copies of quotes for publication costs and description of events and outcomes as well as details of accounts. It could take 5 or 6 weeks before funding is received. Others may take several months. National Heritage may also be able to help. Annette suggested writing to Co?op Extra as they will fund community projects. David Edsall suggested applying for a Landfill Tax grant. William has written to Phil Hope MP as he has indicated that there is some government funding available.
Review of Workshop. About 70 people came to the Workshop and joined in which was an excellent turnout. William thanked everyone for their contribution and thanked Derek Thomas for adding the Workshop to the Village Website.
Key messages. Using the flip charts from the workshop the main features were extracted for inclusion in a first draft of the VDS. Other information could be included in a supplement so that it is not lost and can be taken up by the Parish Council and others. This was agreed. From the outcomes a questionnaire will be compiled.
Towards the preparation of the VDS. Headings were taken from the Countryside Commission booklet on Village Design: Introduction; Village Context: Landscape Setting; Settlement Pattern Character; Buildings and Spaces; Highways and Traffic.
Under each heading key messages from the Workshop were added. In addition, supplementary information was also gathered. It was agreed that Andrew Harland would have overall editorial control of producing the VDS and that initially David Stroud would put together a series of A4 sheets ? one for each heading ? and containing a number of bullet points from the key messages identified.
Display. David and Judy Stroud have display boards. Volunteers are needed to put together the exhibition, compile the questionnaire and to man the displays at each event. Enlargements of a few photos from the Workshop (and any more taken by Derek Thomas of areas of the village not covered) and a few words to summarise the key issues are needed? statements can be controversial to stimulate debate. It would be useful to have a few adopted VDS booklets available and information as to?how' some have been used by local authorities subsequently to influence planning decisions.
Any Other Business. None
Date of next meeting. To be arranged.
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