Parish Plan 2013 Parish of Clifton Campville, Haunton, Statfold and Thorpe Constantine Section one Section two Section three Background Parishioners’ Shaping the Quality of Life Environment pages 4-5 pages 6-11 pages 12-13 Section four Developing a Contents Healthy Local at a glance Economy pages 14-15 Section seven Section six Section five Parish The Design Some Action Plan Statement Problems Parish Map pages 22-25 pages 18-21 pages 16-17 2 Introduction In 2003 the Parish Council, following a comprehensive 5 to identify actions that it is felt should be taken by process of consultation with parishioners that included the County and District Councils, by the Parish public meetings and questionnaires to each household, Council and by parishioners themselves in order to produced a Parish Plan in response to the government’s maintain a vibrant local community 2000 Rural White Paper “Our Countryside: the Future”. 6 to encourage and support parishioners in coming This exercise was successful in that the District Council together to improve and develop community took full note of the Plan during its own deliberations, amenities. and the Plan served as a useful Action Programme for the Parish Council. Throughout parishioners have been To this end the Parish Council sent a draft plan to every able to judge the Parish Council’s performance and household together with a questionnaire, the response make comment at Council meetings. to which enabled the Council to judge the degree of support for each element of the Plan and to take note However, the world has changed in the last ten years, of parishioners’ comments. and quite possibly so have the views, values and needs of parishioners. Therefore the Parish Council, anxious The Plan has been submitted to Lichfield District Council to operate as a fully democratic body reflecting the as a statement of our parishioners’ clearly expressed views of its electorate, decided to repeat the exercise. needs. The purpose of the plan and the process of parishioner In addition the Parish Plan has been translated into a consultation were: Parish Council Action Programme, progress of which 1 to encourage the community to take stock of itself will be reported at every Parish Council Meeting and 2 to cause parishioners to consider their values and published in the minutes. how these might need to be protected for the future The Parish Plan and Parish Council Action Programme 3 to ensure that everyone within the Parish was given are published on the village website and also will be opportunity to comment on the future of their made accessible via the Parish Clerk to anyone who community does not have Internet access. 4 to identify any improvements or constraints that are felt to be needed Parish Plan - 2013 3 Section one Background Parish of Clifton Campville, Haunton, Statfold and Thorpe Constantine 1. Location The Parish of Clifton Campville is situated at the south Tamworth and Burton upon Trent are nearer and more eastern tip of Staffordshire abutting the counties of easily accessible with a result that parishioners make Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. much greater use of the facilities of these towns rather than those in Lichfield for which they pay their council The location of the Parish, whilst in a pleasant rural tax. setting, nevertheless gives rise to two areas of complaint. First parishioners feel that its position in a There is a strong feeling that the County and District corner of the County means that their needs are Councils need to recognise the feelings of alienation overlooked by the County authorities in distant that these geographical quirks generate. Stafford, some of whom do not recognise the names of the villages when telephoned. Second, whilst the 100% agreed that this is a satisfactory statement Parish is governed by Lichfield District Council, 4 Background 2. The Parish Although the Parish is commonly referred to as “Clifton Campville”, it embraces the villages of Clifton Campville, Haunton, Statfold and Thorpe Constantine, each of which has its unique identity. Traditionally an essentially agricultural community, over the last century the population of the Parish expanded as improved methods of transport enabled people to live within its boundaries but travel to work in nearby towns and cities. The M42 makes daily commuting to Birmingham a feasible way of life. Demand for housing for commuters has increased the number of dwellings in the Parish and at the same time the cost of housing has raisen making it more difficult for young people brought up in the Parish to continue to live there. Agricultural employment these days is more mechanised and no other large employers have come into the area, therefore the Parish has become largely a commuter environment with an attendant weakening of social cohesion. Each village in the Parish has its own church. Clifton Campville also has a village hall, a public house and a Millennium Green, the last being both a wildlife habitat 3. Population and an area for leisure activities. and Housing Density Many older people born within the Parish would like to About 1,000 people live in the Parish in about 400 see a return to the way of life of their childhood. Many dwellings, just over half in Clifton Campville itself. newcomers hanker after a rural idyll derived more from Parishioners feel strongly that the density is such that imagination than reality. Most are deeply suspicious of no further housing development should be change. Few however would wish to give up the countenanced other than that already earmarked for telephone, television, and refrigerator. The world is in-fill, which will be on a small scale. Certainly there changing and, if we think about it rationally, this has would be the strongest opposition to any development been largely for the better. Inevitably changes will be outside the current envelope since this would alter the thrust upon the Parish. The purpose of the Parish Plan nature of the villages and be unsupportable by existing is to set out what changes parishioners would welcome, services. what they would wish to avoid, and how they would wish any changes to be introduced and managed. 86% agreed 6% disagreed 100% agreed that this is a satisfactory statement 6% neither agreed nor disagreed Parish Plan - 2013 5 Section two Parishioners’ Quality of Life Parish of Clifton Campville, Haunton, Statfold and Thorpe Constantine Our parishioners demand – and deserve – a high quality 5. Footpaths of life, which means that they should have peaceful and undisturbed living in a happy community with Whilst footpaths are well signed where they meet reasonable access to important services, regardless of roads, they tend otherwise to be unclear and need their age or financial situation. subsequent marking where the way forward is not apparent. This is particularly important if a footpath crosses farmed land because local walkers in particular 4. Bus Service are anxious not to interfere with farmers’ livelihoods. The Parish is served by a limited bus service. If a bus fails Ideally therefore footpaths should be indicated and to arrive, the effect on schoolchildren or people with cleared as soon as planting is completed. medical appointments is profound. A more frequent service would be welcomed by many people, but it is Wherever practicable kissing gates are replacing step- recognised that a commercial operator is unlikely to run over stiles to make footpaths more accessible to routes at a loss. The present bus route sensibly serves disabled and elderly walkers. Leaflets and maps of local several villages, but because of this the journey to footpaths should be displayed in the villages to Tamworth takes a long time. Also it does not pass encourage better and more responsible use of popular destinations such as Ventura retail park, the footpaths. railway station, the college, medical centres or hospital. There is no public transport to Lichfield where many of 90% agreed the facilities paid for by parishioners’ council tax are 2% disagreed situated, nor to Measham or Burton upon Trent which 8% neither agreed nor disagreed many people have to visit for medical care. 86% agreed 2% disagreed 8% neither agreed nor disagreed 6 Parishioners’ Quality of Life 6. Bridleways Several private landowners have created permissive bridleways such that riders can take a circular route with minimal use of roadways. Bridleways need to be maintained to a satisfactory level so as to allow safe use by walkers, cyclists and horseback riders. At the same time all practicable steps should be taken to prevent motorised vehicles from using these routes. Horse riders welcome gates with fasteners that may be opened and closed without dismounting. 88% agreed none disagreed 12% neither agreed nor disagreed 7. Street Lighting have reached maturity so new plantings are being made to ensure that the area remains well stocked with trees. The provision of street lighting is generally adequate, though some areas could be better lit. Some parishioners have suggested that the Parish Council should be consulted before any trees are felled A common complaint is about excessive light pollution, in the Parish, other than those in managed woodlands, much of which is caused by the increasing number of so that opportunity might be taken to minimise the external lights on houses that shine onto fields and adverse impact on the landscape and to balance any onto neighbouring properties, dazzling drivers and felling with new planting. causing inconvenience to neighbours. Hedges throughout the Parish are generally well 86% agreed maintained, that is to say cut at the correct profile and 2% disagreed at the right time to minimise disruption to wildlife. 12% neither agreed nor disagreed There is opportunity for parishioner groups to improve 8.