Audlem's Parish Plan

This month a glossy 44-page brochure dropped through almost a thousand letter boxes in the parish of Audlem. For once, this was no advertising brochure but a blue print for the future of the village.

The Audlem Parish Plan, produced by a team of thirty volunteers, appears to have been very well received. The immediate first impression is of a beautifully illustrated and designed publication. The real impact, however, is in the ideas the Plan contains – and they are legion. But they are not just pie-in-the-sky ideas as there are detailed action plans showing how, when and by whom each idea can be implemented.

Amongst the big ideas is a complete overhaul of the village's sports facilities. The plan says that 2012, the year the Olympics come to London, should be the target date. Recent events appear to be helping this aspiration. When Lord Coe received his special award this month on the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year programme from Olympic gold medal winner Daley Thompson, Daley said the Olympics was an opportunity for the whole country to rediscover sport, to get fit and to lose weight!

An official report, however, warned that London's gain could be at the expense of the regions and something has to be done to ensure the benefit of hosting the Olympics is spread around the country. Audlem should heed that warning and make sure it improves both the quality and extent of its sports facilities. The last real improvement to sports facilities in Audlem was in 1984 when the tennis courts were given a complete facelift and floodlights were installed. Ever since, the village has had a thriving tennis club. When the tennis facilities were poor, hardly anyone played, clear proof of the importance today of first class facilities. But 21 years is a long time ago and now football, badminton, basketball, 5-a-side football, gym and other sports facilities need to be improved or installed.

After all, as was pointed out in one of the public meetings held to discuss the plan, if Audlem were in France or Sweden it would have a fabulous range of facilities. London's Olympic facilities will, hopefully, be second to none so this is the time to get the village's facilities up to the same standards as its continental counterparts.

The sports proposals are long term but other ideas in the Plan are well underway or have already been introduced. Villagers, when answering a questionnaire as part of the consultation process, overwhelmingly opted for a village website to tell them what was going on. This website www.audlem.org was launched in August, is updated every day with news and information and has many regular users. It has over 140 sections covering almost everything that happens in the village and is designed for residents and visitors alike.

There are even the first attempts to expand local democracy on the site with a vote poll on local issues and the fifth poll was a simple seasonal question – "Do you still enjoy Christmas?" Others have tackled more testing issues such as affordable housing, smoking in public places and whether more should be spent on sports facilities.

Tourism was identified as a key economic issue in the Parish Plan. While the questionnaire raised some questions about additional traffic, the vast majority were in favour of encouraging more tourists to visit as it helps local businesses, particularly the shops and pubs. So the village has already done something about it and, with official backing, three months ago opened its very own Tourist Information Centre. This is one of the very few examples in the country of a village the size of Audlem opening a TIC. It was the brainchild of Judy Benson, who runs Williams newsagents and she is now selling a range of maps, guidebooks and Audlem gifts as well as providing information to visitors.

Other ideas being pursued include a nature reserve, improved signposting and information around the village, a series of colour coded footpath routes, improved facilities for youngsters, and crucially, trying to tackle one of the village's major problems, the number of Heavy Goods Vehicles trying to drive through the narrow village streets when there are better and quicker alternatives for through traffic.

For those not living in Audlem, the Parish Plan can be found on www.audlem.org. The Plan has arrived at a time when Audlem has been enjoying great success. The village has just won the national Defra award for 'Building Community Life' as well as winning both the North of England and Cheshire titles of 'Village of the Year'. It has also been voted the 'Most Vibrant Village' in Cheshire. Despite all this success, the ambitions laid out in the Parish Plan show clearly this is a village that is determined to be an even better place to live in or visit.

If you would like to contact Bob Cartwright about this article, send a message to the webteam and we will gladly pass it on.

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