September 2025 update

The draft Parish Plan is now available for discussion by the community. Below is a brief introduction with the major points. An Executive Summary and Main Recommendations from the report are here and the draft of the full Parish Plan is here, or click on the links below.

Introduction and background

A draft Parish Plan – Plan B – will be discussed at an Open Meeting in the Village Hall at 10am on Saturday the 20^th of September, and input is welcome from as many of the community as possible. There will be a subsequent questionnaire for everyone to provide their individual views if they wish. The full draft Parish Plan is available to download.

The development of the Plan has been a community exercise, initiated by the Parish Council (PC) following initial work by a steering group in 2022. In 2023 the PC commissioned a Parish Plan Group (PPG) to produce the plan. The PPG, working through its subgroups (Foundations and Ecosystem, Housing, Facilities, Environment, and Transport), has spoken with a large number of people in the village and its many institutions and groups.

Without doubt the community wishes to retain the character of the village and the diverse and valuable activities that we have today. The village is indeed very fortunate in its facilities such as the school, church, village hall, community shop and pub as well as its playground and village green, and many other groups and associations.

Clearly Bledington will continue to evolve, as it has done in years past. While as a community we cannot possibly control everything that happens to our village, having a Parish Plan is our best means of influencing development in the directions we, the residents, wish it to take.

Building on the range of discussions and the work of the sub-groups, the draft Plan has identified a series of priorities for the next few years:

1. People: the most important thing that has emerged from discussions is that for Bledington to continue to flourish, it needs to grow. The number of people living in the village fell by some 10% between the censuses of 2011 and 2021 and we need more people to use and support, lead, and volunteer for the diverse range of services and activities our Village has and wishes to offer. Volunteering is clearly a key feature of the village’s present and future success, and the Plan recommends particular focus on this area.
2. Housing: to have more residents, we need the right housing. It is clear that we need affordable starter homes to buy or to let, ‘next step’ family homes, and homes for current residents who wish to downsize from larger houses while staying in the community.
3. The Environment and Flooding: consideration of our environment in the widest sense should underpin the village’s plans. We must also manage the risk of flooding. If Bledington has a reputation for flooding, people will not want to live here.
4. Communication: the Plan recognises the importance of good two-way communication in the community, between both individuals and organisations, and makes recommendations to support this.
5. Other priorities: The Plan B team identified a wide range of other activities and ideas which villagers would welcome and value and which are set out in the draft Parish Plan. Many could go ahead now so long as people or groups are willing to lead and support them. Examples might be a welcome pack for newcomers and visitors, a ‘green pledge’ for the village, and our own environmental impact screening for planning proposals coming to the Parish Council. Others, such as recreational facilities, allotments and village composting might take longer to deliver while the right organisations and resources are found to take them forward. Still other ideas in the Plan, such as long-term energy and water management, could be held for the future. 
    
    

To implement these priorities, whether involving large or small actions, we will need one or more (and sometimes all) of the following: people, land, money, and a responsible organisation or group to oversee the Plan.

The main proposals in the draft Plan to achieve these priorities are -

1. Community Trust: while money and people can be sought, the supply of land is a limiting factor. Having looked at the options and the experience of other villages, the Plan proposes the setting up of a legal entity such as a Community Trust. A Trust, or similar body, would aim to secure land for community purposes, and to act as a channel for financial and other support for developments such as housing, facilities, allotments, and recreational facilities.
2. Implementation Group: there will be a need to establish a specific group (‘Future Bledington’?) to coordinate and monitor progress against the Parish Plan, to communicate and engage regularly with the community, and to attract new ideas and proposals.
3. Charitable Funds: the village needs a charitable body to attract and manage the money for its various projects. It currently has two charities, the Poors Plot and the Bledington and Foscot Community Association which might provide the basis for such a body.
4. Flooding: the Plan recommends continuing support to the Bledington Flood Group to bring its current and future projects to completion.

The Parish Plan Group, August 2025

Earlier updates

email: planb@bledington.com

phone: 01608 659784

WhatsApp: 07766 797730

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