INDEX Detail Page No. Parish of Mursley Map 3 Conservation Area Map 4 Introduction 5 Parish of Mursley Past & Present 7 Black Poplars 10 Current facilities 11 Demographic Section 13 Questionnaires & Summary of Responses: Social & Welfare 15 Environment & Conservation 17 Sports & Recreation 19 Housing, Development & Planning 21 Traffic & Transport 24 Youth 27 ‘Mursley in Your Own Words’ 30 What Happens Now? 32 The Future 33 Acknowledgements 34 Appendices: a) Questionnaire b) Results Summary c) Contact Information for Clubs & Societies d) Statistics e) Post Code Summary Mursley Parish Plan 2 Parish Map Mursley Parish Plan 3 Map of Conservation Area of Mursley Mursley Parish Plan 4 INTRODUCTION What is a Parish Plan? The Rural White Paper in 2000 provided the Government’s intention to encourage parish councils to take greater responsibility for administering their own affairs and influencing and shaping the future development of their communities through the preparation of parish plans. Funding to help parishes to cover the cost of producing these plans was provided via the Government to be supervised by the Countryside Agency, who in turn channeled those funds through to county councils, who then distributed them to parishes that were committed to produce parish plans. Parish plans are organised through parish councils, but delegated to another group. In Mursley that task was delegated to a Steering Group representing all ages and generations living in the Parish at the time. Bucks Community Action Group have advised us there are approximately 1400 Parish Plans being formulated or completed in England. In Buckinghamshire alone (not including the Unitary Authority of Milton Keynes) there are 54 Parishes that are actively working on Parish Plans, which equates to 32.7% of the population of Buckinghamshire. In Aylesbury Vale, in which Mursley sits, there are 36 Parishes active in the process. The objective of a parish plan is to identify what is important to the community and, by means of action plans, to suggest practical ways of ensuring the aspirations of those that live in the community can be attained. The process of bringing the Parish Plan to fruition It has taken some time to complete our Parish Plan. The process commenced in Spring 2005 when the Parish Council held an open day for Parishioners to have their ‘say’. This well attended event resulted in hundreds of ‘post-it’ notes being completed, covering a wide range of issues that were occupying Parishioners’ thoughts at the time. The Parish Council collated and summarised the comments, and another Open Parish Meeting was held under the auspices of the Bucks Community Action Group (part of Bucks CC) specifically to form a steering group in late 2005. After that Group was formed, the first half of 2006 was occupied in reviewing the results of the original open day, and in formulating a series of questions to be put to the Parishioners. Attached to this Plan, Appendix (b), are summaries of the responses received to the Questionnaire that was issued to all Parishioners in September 2006. (A copy of the questions in the Questionnaire is attached as Appendix (a)). The data has been divided into several categories: • Social & Welfare • Environment & Conservation • Sports & Recreation • Housing, Development & Planning • Traffic & Transport • Youth • ‘Mursley in Your Own Words’ The aim of the Steering Group was to produce a Questionnaire that encompassed as many of the issues concerning Parishioners at that time as could be identified by asking them their views on a wide range of subjects. The questions were formulated with the aim of avoiding any bias being suggested in the questions, and to avoid questions that might have led those answering them to any particular response. By this process the opinions given represented the genuine views of as wide a cross section of the population as could be persuaded to complete the Questionnaires at that time. Questionnaires were distributed in September 2006. Every dwelling in the Parish was visited by a member of the Steering Group and the number of occupants of school age and over was identified. A Questionnaire was left for every individual of 5 years and older to complete. It was decided to invite comment from such young Parishioners with a view to identifying the needs and aspirations of the youth of the Parish, which it was felt, might otherwise have been overlooked. Mursley Parish Plan 5 Most completed Questionnaires were again personally collected by members of the Steering Group in order to maximize the response rate. A total of 565 Questionnaires were given out, from which we received 323 responses, (which included 53 youth responses). Bucks Community Action Group have confirmed that compared to other Parishes who have prepared a parish plan, this is a good return. The responses were then collated and summarised, and the Steering Group spent the next 7 months analysing the results, formulating action plans and in producing the document that you are now reading. During this process it was noticed that in some instances different responses to the same question occurred dependant on where in the parish the respondent lived. An additional post code analysis was then carried out to establish areas of relevant interest. That analysis is attached as Appendix (e). The action plans that have been formed from the responses received have not extended to dealing with the local issues that can be identified from the post code analysis, it is hoped that focus groups will be formed to address those issues in the fullness of time. Why Mursley needs a Parish Plan? The view of the Parish Council and of the Steering Group is that all villages will change over time, both in terms of character and physically, Mursley is no exception. Over the years Mursley has changed significantly and the next section of this Plan provides information on our history. The process of change will continue, that is inevitable, physical change will be necessary to reflect the requirements of the altering nature of the population, in response to the needs of the current population, and in anticipation of the requirements for the future. In embracing change where appropriate and necessary, every effort needs to be made to try to preserve what is best about Mursley as it is today, and the character of the village and its community. This Parish Plan has sought to represent the views of the current population so that other agencies, both local, regional and national authorities and service agencies can take those aspirations into account when considering how decisions they may make will affect the Parish, and whether those decisions are sympathetic to the views of our community. Mursley Parish Plan 6 PARISH OF MURSLEY PAST & PRESENT Mursley – Main Street Mursley lies in the north east corner of Aylesbury Vale District midway between Milton Keynes to the east, and Buckingham to the west and some 11 miles north of Aylesbury, the county town. The total population (2001 census) is 602 distributed among 243 households. The local authorities are Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) and Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC). Muselai or Mureslai developed during the medieval period and is included, with the hamlet of Salden, in the Domesday Book of 1086. The land, valued at £5, was divided between ‘Count of Mortain’ or ‘Count Mortain’; Walter Giffard; Leofwin of Nuneham. The name is believed to derive from old English, being a person’s name plus leah, meaning ‘woodland clearing of a man named Myrsa’. The granting of a Market Charter for a weekly market on Thursdays was made in 1230 to the Prior of Snelshall (Whaddon); however this market was stopped following complaints that it reduced the attendance at the market in Leighton Buzzard. In 1242 Warren Fitzgerald was granted a charter from Henry III for a market on Wednesdays and a yearly Fair to last three days on the Vigil, Feast and Morrow of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (7th, 8th and 9th September). This is one of the oldest Market and Fair Charters in the country and it made Mursley a place of note, lying on a principal road to London, almost equidistant between Buckingham and Dunstable. In 1580 Sir John Fortescue, cousin, tutor and Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I, became the owner of the manor of Salden. He built a magnificent palace at a cost of £33,000 which entertained Royalty and nobles of the realm. After 150 years of wealth and splendour the property was divided and the noble seat demolished, except for a small portion, which served as a passage from the kitchen and Great Parlours, this is now used as a farmhouse. Mursley is situated in an elevated spot about 500 feet (152m) above sea level, commanding extensive views of the surrounding district. The countryside surrounding Mursley is an area of rich agricultural land. During the medieval period the landscape was dominated by ridge and furrow cultivation, several areas of ridge and furrow survive today. Subsidies were introduced, after WWII, to enable those who had fought for their country to come back to jobs on the land. The houses opposite Beecham’s Cottages on Station Road were built by the Council as homes for farm workers. Dairy cattle and wheat were the mainstays. Fifty years ago five farms in the centre of Mursley milked cattle, Manor Farm, Cedar’s Farm, Lower Church Farm, Churchill Farm and Mursley Hall Farm. As in other areas, agriculture has since declined in Mursley and today, there are 5 working farms on the outskirts of the village, Cold Harbour Farm, Richmond Hill Farm, Salden Crabtree Farm, Springfield Farm and Mursley Hall Farm, and one working farm on Main Street, Cedars Farm.