Dalston Parish Plan and Design Statement

Dalston's Parish Plan and the Parish Design Statement were both published in 2005. The Parish Plan was officially launched at a celebration in the Victory Hall on Saturday 3rd September 2005 - click here to read the report.

Parish Plans were proposed by central Government and promoted to all Parish Councils by The Countryside Agency.

Parish Plans were conceived as a chance for local people to have a say in how they would like their village or Parish to be.

The Design Statement, on the other hand, gives local people, in conjunction with the Parish Plan, the chance to have an influence on local planners on what their village or Parish should look like. Furthermore, the Design Statement can be adopted by the local planners as a planning tool to help with planning decisions. The Design Statement should be consulted by all Parishioners when considering a new planning project as it may assist them in the presentation of their plans for approval.

Our Design Statement examines the Parish with specific reference to Dalston village, Buckabank, Raughton Head and Stockdalewath, Gaitsgill and Raughton, Cumdivock, Unthank, Lingey, Cardewlees and Orton Grange, Nether Welton and, finally, Broadfield.

The production of both the Parish Plan and the Design Statement was a project involving a great deal of voluntary time from very many people both from within and from outside the Parish Council. The Parish Plan team and the Design Statement team were separate groups, although some people sat on both. Some of the essential work had to be paid for (administration, questionnaire analysis, printing etc.) but the vast majority of the time was given freely by members of the Parish. In addition to the above there were a number of people who were in the working groups and involved in the distribution of the Parish Plan.

The work on the Parish Plan was carried out by a Steering Committee and a number of specific groups of volunteers. Each group met separately and reported to the Steering Committee.

Quite early in the project the Steering Committee sadly lost John Ford who had very quickly made his mark. Despite his death the Committee often referred to the valuable 'roadmap' which he had carefully crafted in the first weeks of the project.

Although he did not attend any meetings the Design Statement team were particularly pleased to be able to include historical snapshots written by Ian Gray and the document is well worth reading, if for no other reason, than to read his contribution.

While it is sometimes not a good thing to single out individuals when a project is clearly the result of a team, special thanks should be accorded to the following:

Pauline Dalton for chairing the proceedings and for persauding the Parish Council that the production of a Parish Plan and Design Statement was vital for the future of the community.

Ian Turnbull for both leading the Environment Group and, more specifically, for writing the main drafts of the Design Statement. Without his clear view of the Parish as it is now and how it might look in the future, this part of the project might never have seen the light of day.

Liz Auld for her tireless attention to detail in co-ordinating the many drafts of both documents, working with the funders and ensuring that the printers produced the documents to such a high standard.