The Government wants local communities to take more control over their own lives, to say what they want doing in their own parishes and to engage with other organisations to get things done. You can’t prevent change but what you can do is influence it. A Parish Plan helps our community to make change happen. It provides an opportunity for everyone to make themselves heard.

The Parish Plan lays out a shared vision for the community over the next 10+ years and will contain a detailed action plan for achieving this. It sets out how community action can meet local needs, can help to prioritise resources and can provide important information to help influence the policies, decisions and actions of others.

The Otford Parish Plan is fully supported by our Parish Council as well as the Sevenoaks District Council. As it progresses, it will also receive expert guidance and advice from Action with Communities in Rural Kent.

It is a process by which our whole community can voice their opinions on what actions they wish to see taken in their local area in the future. The Parish Plan when completed may highlight actions that

• can be taken by community members
• be used as clear guidance for our Parish Council
• be used to influence service providers like SDC
• act as evidence of need when applying for funding.

Its effects can also reach outside the parish. The Sevenoaks District Council are currently required by Government to prepare their own 15-year plan, called the Local Development Framework. A Parish Plan such as ours can provide them with important evidence of Community engagement – that the views of our community and other stakeholders have been taken into account. Our Parish Plan may also be taken into material consideration for development control purposes. This is known as a Supplementary Planning Document.

This year we hope every resident will take the chance to be involved in producing the Otford Parish Plan.

Rod Shelton
Chairman of the Otford Parish Plan Committee
January 2009