Meeting held in the Eversdens Village Hall Thursday 4^th October 2007

Following distribution of leaflets to every Eversden Household (with one or two exceptions where a letter box couldn't be found!) advertising a meeting to discuss a possible Parish Plan for the Eversdens,  a meeting was held in the Village Hall on Thursday 4^th October.

Some 60 people attended, remarkable for the Eversdens when no free glass of wine had been promised, and a presentation was given by Melanie Baker of ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England).

Melanie outlined just what is a Parish Plan, the possible aims and objectives, how a Parish Plan can open doors when adopted by the Parish Council, the likely timescales involved from start to final production.  She passed around examples of Parish Plans produced by other South Cambridgeshire villages.  Questions were invited from the floor and there were several interesting points raised.  John White, chairing the meeting, stated that without active participation from villagers in forming a Steering Group through which a questionnaire can be developed, answers collated and results incorporated within the Plan, no progress at all would be made.  A show of hands overwhelmingly supported the desire to have a Parish Plan.

At the end of the meeting, some 15 villagers put their names forward for Steering Group activity.  Other villagers stated that they were prepared to help in other ways, for example, questionnaire delivery and collection, computer related tasks.

The overall impression was that the meeting had been a good one and that residents would look forward to the next steps.

Those who indicated a willingness to help with the Steering Group and who provided e-mail addresses have subsequently been contacted with a view to arranging a Steering Group meeting.