The future of a Staffordshire village is being placed firmly in the hands of its residents as work on a plan to tackle their concerns gets under way.
More than 50 people from Great Wyrley met at the Landywood Lane community centre to discuss issues and concerns they want addressed in the Great Wyrley Village Plan – including the Walsall Road day centre reprieved from closure under Staffordshire County Council’s Changing Lives policy, levels of visible police patrols and leisure facilities.
Wyrley Independent Parish Plan group, with a constitution separate to Great Wyrley Parish Council, is due to form next month to tackle the project and try to resolve issues.
Group secretary and parish councillor Ron Myatt said: “We are creating a separate, unique identity for the parish plan group with its constitution, steering group to manage and control the process needs volunteers working groups.
“The whole emphasis is that however successful the parish plan is, will be down to the initiative, drive, skill and willingness of the parishioners. It’s their plan at the end of the day.
“There has never been a proper occasion, before this, where villagers are consulted about the issues they feel are important to their quality of life and their future way forward.”
He hoped some issues may be tackled quickly because they were due to lack of communication between organisations and villagers.
One of the first roles of the group will be to communicate needs, issues and ideas to organisations with the power to address them such as Staffordshire County Council, South Staffordshire Council and Great Wyrley Parish Council.
Mr Myatt added: “We’re looking for some quick wins, for example people want more things like police surgeries where they can share their concerns to the police and to arrange that should just be a case of expressing that wish in the right area.”
The group is to form its constitution in August and start drafting a plan over the next 12 months to tackle problems. The next public meeting should be in mid-September.
Call Mr Myatt on 01922 413849 for information about the plan and volunteering on the group.
Share this article:
What are these?