IMPROVING AMPTHILL FOR YOU
This Plan combines an acknowledgement that we all wish to preserve the true charm and value of our present surroundings, with the acceptance and recognition that no community can over stand still and that we must all work hard to ensure that the Town will evolve and progress.
This is just the beginning...
The implementation phase of Ampthill Town Plan has begun with a new Implementation Steering Group formed & headed by Nigel Milway (milway@btinternet.com). If you have an interest in joining one of the 5 implementation groups (Business; Infrastructure - Housing + Highways & Public Transport; Community - Sports, Social, Leisure & Entertainment, Youth & Community Facilities + Tourism + Education, Training & Employment; Services - Health & Social Services + Police, Other Emergency Services & Community Safety; Environment) contact Nigel. The Town Plan Implementation Group will be working closely with the Town Council to ensure that recommendations become a reality.
The Ampthill Town Action Plan represents the culmination of over 2 years work by a Steering Group and various subject Focus Groups. Groups looked into he future of the Town with regards to these areas:
Business and Retail Development
Ampthill’s Farmers Market
Housing
Education, Training and Employment
Sports, Social, Leisure and Entertainment, Youth and Community Facilities
Tourism
Highways and Public Transport
Health and Social Services
Police, Other Emergency Services and Community Safety
Environmental Issues
Although the Plan is the result of considerable work by the Steering and Focus Groups, it nevertheless also reflects the views of the community at large, which were gathered from responses to a questionnaire distributed to all residences in Ampthill in early 2004. A public meeting was held on 22nd April 2005 to review and discuss the Interim Report on the responses to the Questionnaires (Copy at Annex H) and everyone was afforded the opportunity to join one or more Focus Groups to examine issues in more detail. The Plan now reflects the effort and views of all those involved.
While the planning phase is now largely complete, it is of course only the beginning and much work remains to be done to implement the ideas and objectives set out in the pages that follow. The work required is considerable and for it to be a success we will need the help of everyone who is willing and able. In addition the Plan provides a foundation for lobbying various authorities that affect the Town and is the starting point for obtaining grants and submitting applications for funding.
You can view & download copies of the reports:
AMPTHILL ACTION PLAN - SUMMARY REPORT
AMPTHILL ACTION PLAN - FULL REPORT
This has been produced in the Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) which requires you to have the free Acrobat software on your computer. If you do not have the necessary software, please click here to go to the Adobe website where you can download it. To download the report – simply hold your cursor over the name of the report (above) and click the right button on your mouse and then choose ‘save target as’, and choose where you want to save the file on your hard drive (usually 'My Documents')
The Town Plan
for Ampthill sets out a vision for the community’s future and identifies the actions needed to tackle issues of concern. It
was up to the
community, as a whole, to decide what what was most important to them. The Countryside
Agency made an initial grant of £5000 to the Town Plan Steering Group and this
has enabled them to: -
Identify
local problems and opportunities.
Set
out an achievable and long term vision for the future
Prepare a Plan of Action to achieve this vision.
The Plan has been based on information provided through surveys, research and community participation.
You may ask,
what was the point of developing a town plan, when they have no formal status?
Well it is hoped that this will influence a wide range of organisations that
provide services to rural communities. Coincidentally, a
Community Plan for the whole of Mid Beds has been developed by
Mid Beds Strategic Partnership (a group made up of representatives from
statutory, business and voluntary bodies) and Ampthill's Plan will contribute to
this ever evolving plan. Additionally, a great many
organisations that offer grants to rural communities such as Ampthill, expect to
see written evidence of need, community consultation and an action plan, before
they will consider offering funding. Therefore, our plan will be used to
provide this information and to accompany such funding bids. It would also be
hoped that in developing the plan, it will bring people together and engender
some community spirit into the town.
The Beginning of the Process
Ampthill Town Council wished to instigate an Action Plan for Ampthill, which would provide a 'snapshot' survey of social, economic, environmental and transport issues, with an Action Plan evolving to tackle these issues. To begin this process, it was essential that there was community involvement and support, to maximise the opportunities for the Town and its residents. Therefore, the Town Council invited the towns people to attend an initial meeting at Parkside Hall on Thursday 10th October 2002 , to 'kick-start' the process. About 60-70 residents attended the meeting, which was addressed by Julia Holmes of Beds Rural Communities Charity, who extolled the virtues of beginning an 18 month process of creating a vision for the town, in the form of a Town Plan. At the end of the meeting interested residents were invited to sign up to become part of the Steering Group and so began the process towards producing a town plan.
It is not too late to become involved. Simply send an e-mail to the Town Clerk expressing your interest in joining the Steering Committee or one of the Implementation Groups, at council@ampthilltowncouncil.org.uk.
The formation of Ampthill's Town Plan will be funded by the Countryside Agency Vital Villages Scheme.
The Town's Action Plan will indeed feed into the Districts and County's Community Plans.
You can download the draft. It has been produced as an Adobe Acrobat portable document format (pdf) which requires you to have the free Acrobat software on your computer. If you do not have the necessary software, please click here to go to the Adobe website where you can download it. To download the draft – simply hold your cursor over the name of the draft (below), click the right button on your mouse and then choose ‘save target as’, and choose where you want to save the file on your hard drive (usually 'My Documents'):-
Mid Beds Community Plan - Draft (PDF Size - 1.42MB)
In addition there is also the overarching Bedfordshire Community Plan, which can similarly be downloaded (using the instructions shown above)
Bedfordshire Community Plan - Draft (PDF Format - Size - 699KB)
www.ampthilltowncouncil.org.uk
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