Contents | 1. Overview | 2. Intro to Marnhull | 3. Actions & Strategy | 4. Residents Views | 5. Data | Summary

Work began on this Marnhull Parish Plan in June 2005 when, following a series of presentations made to various societies, groups and churches within Marnhull, a steering committee of 25 people was established. The size of the committee allowed the introduction of a number of working groups to be established so that no one person was over committed. At the first full committee meeting a constitution was agreed and the officers elected. The work involved was financially underpinned by a grant from the Countryside agency of £3,560 backed by £300 from the Parish Council.

The brief for the plan was “ to produce a document that identifies all the relevant issues of importance to Marnhull, including issues of social, economic and environmental concern”. The resultant document was to represent the views of the entire community and be based on information collected from surveys, consultation and research with the final focus on actions to be taken through an Action Plan, which identified the necessary responsibilities.

The process adopted by the committee, following the extensive series of presentations seeking volunteers for the steering committee, was to engage further with the community using a stall at the Marnhull Fest held in July 2005. The PR sub committee heavily advertised our attendance and the response was significant. In addition to explaining the Plan concept the committee took the opportunity to seek views of what was important to those who lived in Marnhull. Feedback was received from over 180 people, the form used and data received form part of Appendix A. The feedback was used to influence the type and format of questions to be included in the questionnaire, which was to be sent to all households

A sub group was formed with the task of crafting the questions to be included in the questionnaire, which were then presented to the full committee for approval. A software package was used to create the questionnaire document in order that data analysis could be achieved efficiently, this did, however, have a down side because the structure was preset and certain types of questions were predetermined in the software. In excess of 900 questionnaires were hand delivered and in many cases hand collected during September, with the result that we had 581 households representing 1298 residents returning completed questionnaires. 99 youth questionnaires were also received from children and young adults. The effectiveness of the software used was demonstrated by the fact that the time to input all the data from the questionnaires was 120 hours; without the software it would have been considerably longer. A number of the questionnaires returned included comments on what respondents felt were of prime importance, these have been used to influence comments made in section 4.

After the raw data from the questionnaires had been analysed, an Open Day and Evening was held on the 10th November to provide feedback to the Marnhull community and to enable further input to be obtained. The committee were very fortunate to have representatives from NDDC and Dorset County Council present to answer questions. Subsequent to the open day the committee have within the time available contacted a number of local organisations, all of which responded, their help has been greatly appreciated.

This document has been structured to meet the demands and requirements of both local and third party bodies and therefore, in section 2,we have included an Introduction to Marnhull. The Parish Action Plan and Strategy in section 3 has been drawn from the analysis in Section 4, supported by the raw data illustrated in section 5.The overall analysis of information received throughout the preparation of this document has been incorporated in section 4, we have attempted, where answers to issues are already available, to provide that answer. Some issues are beyond this brief, but have been included for completeness. Because it is not always possible to provide a sequential response to the questionnaire we have grouped all issues raised under 5 distinct headings namely:

• Living in Marnhull
• The Environment
• Transport
• Recreation
• Youth

The Action Plan detailed in Section 3 illustrates the desire of the majority of Marnhull residents to retain where possible the rural environment which currently exists. As a result of Marnhull comprising a number of loosely linked hamlets there appears a desire that any future strategy should consider the creation of a focal or centre point, which could be a nature reserve, pond or other such focal point. Capital projects recommended relate to the provision of a relocated pre school and the building of a youth shelter. Many local actions will depend on the local community assisting the Parish Council in their implementation. Other actions in the areas of Bus Transport, Roads, Wild Life Management, Environment and Recreation facilities will require the Parish Council working with relevant third party agencies. As a result of the questionnaire it can be seen that half the population of Marnhull has moved here during the last 15 years. This means we have a mixed agricultural and non-agricultural community, which requires better understanding and tolerance on both sides. It is expected that the Parish Council will explore ways in which this can be positively achieved.

During the development of this plan a number of people have given of their time. The Marnhull community owes them a great deal of thanks and will hopefully show their support by becoming actively engaged in ensuring, that we, as a community, meet the demands of the proposed action plan. Attendance at some of the monthly Parish Council meetings would be a good start. The Parish Council has agreed to include the Parish Plan as standard agenda item. It has also agreed that a sub committee comprising a number of councilors with members of the Marnhull community will be established to progress the actions listed in Section 3.

Mr. B J Goldsmith Chairman Marnhull Village Parish Plan Steering Committee:

Steering Committee Members - Mrs. Joanna Wilkinson (Vice Chairman), Mrs. Jean Miller (Secretary), Mr Richard Matthews (Treasurer), Mrs. Shirley Blackford, Mr. Gareth Bray, Mrs. Lisa Bridger, Mr Frank Bryant, Mrs. Margaret Bulford, Mrs. Ann Covell, Mrs. Nicola Ellis, Mr. Richard Findlay-Wilson, Mrs. Mali Gudgion, Mr Adam Guy, Mrs. Jane Hibberd, Mrs. Agnes Hopkins, Mrs. Debra Ingham-Barrow, Mrs. Michaela Kendall, Mr Stan Kingsbury, Mrs. Kate Locke, Mrs. Vicky Mitchell, Mrs. Alli Plummer, Commander Rob Vitali, Mrs. J Vitali, Mr Jeremy Watson.

Contents | 1. Overview | 2. Intro to Marnhull | 3. Actions & Strategy | 4. Residents Views | 5. Data | Summary