Ottery Parish to have their say for £7k
The Ottery Parish Plan will collect peoples views on the future of the community - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Up to £7,000 of Ottery Town Council funds are to be spent on giving residents their say on a manifesto for the future of the community.
Members voted eight to two in favour of a new Parish Plan – a public consultation which will bring together people’s views on development of housing and services in the area.
The finished plan will help make sure that local concerns are taken in to account before planning decisions are made and highlight future problems that need to be tackled.
Councillor Andrew Watmore said that there was a ‘really good argument’ for consulting the public on what they wanted to see.
He added: “£7,000 is a lot of money, but I think we should do it because it gives us a mandate for future decisions.”
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Councillor Roger Giles agreed, saying that, although the cost was relatively high, the benefits to the people who lived in the area could be much greater.
But Councillor Paul Lewis disagreed and said that, although he was in favour of consulting the parish, he struggled to understand why it would cost so much.
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He added: “I don’t struggle with the idea of a public consultation but do we really need to spend that much obtaining the information? I’m sure we could do this a lot cheaper.
“I can’t see why we have to spend so much in the days of modern technology and I’m not convinced that people are going to see £7,000 worth of benefit out of it.”
The process is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to complete, and will begin with a series of public meetings to determine the most important issues that should be consulted on.
A survey of around 40 questions will then be sent to every household in the parish, and the answers complied in to a report.
What issues for the future of the Parish are most important to you? Development of new housing? The future of health, social and leisure services? Email harvey.gavin@archant.co.uk
