SAP has a responsibility for working with local parishes that see Sherborne as their principal town. In partnership with Dorset Community Action and West Dorset District Council, we encourage parish planning and can help parishes to gain access to training and support to carry out this process. For the latest information about funding a Parish Plan see http://www.defra.gov.uk/funding/schemes/pp.htm.
We have ensured that all the priorities identified in Parish Plans that are relevant across the Sherborne Area are incorporated into the definitive Sherborne Area Action Plan 2006-9 which was launched on 1st November (see the Community Consultation section of this website for details). Copies of the Action Plan Summary 2006-09 & Volunteering Opportunities booklet were delivered throughout the Sherborne Area during April and May 2007, so let us know if you have not received one.
The Sherborne Area Action Plan has been forwarded on for inclusion in the West Dorset Community Plan (see http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=1832) which will in turn inform the Dorset Strategic Plan (see http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=2736 ) so it should reflect the views of people who live in the whole Sherborne Area rather than just the town itself. There are common concerns about housing, crime, planning issues, transport, road safety, services for older people and facilities for children and teenagers which require changes in policy by the statutory services. See the West Dorset Partnership section of the website to find out more about it, the other Local Area Partnerships in West Dorset and Dorset Strategic Partnership.
We particularly welcome the participation of parish representatives on our Steering Group as well as in the various Forums, details of which can be found in the "Working with Local Groups" section of this website. We need to co-operate in order to achieve change.
The lack of affordable housing is a major issue, since the result is a steady migration of younger people from local villages because they cannot afford to rent or buy their own accommodation there. This in turn impacts on the numbers of children entering local Primary Schools and thus on their viability, as well as on the whole character of a village whose average age will steadily rise. Sherborne Area Housing Forum members met with residents of Leigh and Chetnole in Leigh Village Hall on Tuesday 24th July 2007 in order to hear from Martin Pinkney of Signpost Housing Group about a possible development of affordable homes on an exception site in Leigh. See the "Working with Groups" section of this website for details of the next Forum meeting.
The loss of vital amenities such as Post Offices is also undermining their sustainability as vital communities. The DTI consultation on the future of the Post Office Network, with the threat that approximately 2500 Post Offices would be closed, ended on 8th March. See http://www.dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk/FuturePostOffices.htm for the latest news.
Another problem is the lack of any local branches of Dorset Country Cars, a village-based volunteer driver scheme supported by Dorset County Council. Dorset Country Cars drivers in villages elsewhere in Dorset provide flexible and accessible transport for older people or others with mobility problems who need to travel to medical appointments or on other essential journeys and who not have their own car. Similar schemes are badly needed to complement the work already being done by the NORDCAT and Sherborne Voluntary Ambulance minibuses in the Sherborne Area. We hope to work with the DART Partnership to enable the setting up of such schemes as soon as possible. In order to make a convincing case we will need to research the effectiveness of existing public and/or community transport services (including NORDCAT's new Demand Responsive Transport(DRT) ) in meeting the needs of older and disabled people in villages, as well as the specialist transport service West Country Ambulance NHS Trust provides for patients in villages who have a medical need. We will be seeking the co-operation of Parish Councils to enable us to carry out these tasks.
Finally, many parishes are concerned about traffic speeds . Dorset County Council's Senior Road Safety Officer has circulated a new policy on the deployment of SID's ( electronic speed indicators which can be temporarily placed beside busy roads). Sherborne Town Council has agreed to purchase of at least one SID for local use, with interested parishes being charged a small fee for borrowing it.