Community Strategy Review

Do you know what the Parish Council does? Do you know how you can find out? Does the Parish Council take any interest in what interests, worries or annoys you in the Parish? The answers to these questions and many more besides are all to be found in the Overton Parish Council Community Strategy, a document which is revised and up-dated annually, and which can be read either here or by visiting the Public Library in the Village.

Why should I be bothered you might ask. Well that's fine, leave it to someone else to bother or to take an interest. No one will listen to what I say so what's the point? Fortunately many, many Parishioners do bother, do take an interest in Parish matters and do voice their concerns and suggestions. Your Parish Council welcomes the interest already shown by those who are prepared to bother and is anxious to encourage more interest and more participation in every way.

The Parish Council has three main aims each explained in detail in the Community Strategy.

Aim No. 1 To provide services to the parish community in accordance with statutory requirements.

Aim No. 2 To nurture Overton's heritage and protect it and its rural surroundings.

Aim No. 3 To develop and promote culture, leisure and sports opportunities within the Parish.

The best way that these three objectives can be met effectively is by encouraging public participation and consultation within the Parish and by establishing working links with other local government and non-statutory bodies. It is not just the Parish Council it's the whole community. To find out more about what is going on try all or any one of the following:-

• Read the Community Strategy.
• Come along to Parish Council meetings and listen to the discussions.
• Join in discussions by coming along to the Public Time session at the first of the two monthly meetings of the Parish Council. You can express your views, raise questions, discuss issues that concern you and make suggestions. And the Council will listen and where it is agreed take action.

The dates and times of Parish Council meetings, the agenda for the up-coming meeting and the minutes of the previous meeting are all displayed here and on the Parish Council notice board in the Village.

Don't forget the Parish Council monthly news letter "News and Views". It means what its title says and it is delivered free to your home eleven times a year.

So whether you just want to have a better idea of what is going on in the Parish or you want to join in and raise issues the opportunities are there for the taking. The Parish Council concerns itself with most of what matters to the parishioners from dog mess in the streets to major residential and business developments, from play areas for the children to the provision of cemetery facilities. The Council exists to serve the interests of the Parish and it needs your input, both passive and active, if it is to successfully carry through your Parish Community Strategy.

Read the Parish Community Strategy here