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The North Cadbury &Yarlington

PARISH PLAN

marrying the future to the past

July 2006

Contents

1. Introduction and Acknowledgements 1

2. Gazetteer 1

3. A Short History of the Parish 2

4. The Problems we face 4

5. The Parish Survey and Plan 7 1. Housing Need & Development 7 2. The Parish Orchard 8 3. Speed Limits 8 4. Parish Website 8 5. Business Development 9 6. Village Halls and Recreation Grounds 9 7. The Local Environment 10 8. Local Transport 10 9. Leisure Activities 11 10. Team Sports 12 11. A Remedial Programme 13 12. Crime Prevention 13 13. Church and School 14 14. Playgroup & Toddlers 15 15. North Cadbury Post Office & Stores 15 16. Volunteers 16

6. The Action Plan 16 - 18

The Steering Committee

Richard Crewdson (Chair)David Braybon Peter RandallTim Holt Alan SperringKeith Northover Bob WhitemorePeter Newth Pam Wood

north cadbury and yarlington parish plan page

1. INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

n the words of the Countryside Agency's Official Guide to Parish Plans1 “a Parish Plan is astatement of how the community sees itself developing over the next few years". Without

the cooperation of nearly three-quarters of the population of the Parishes of North Cadburyand Yarlington, it would have been impossible to produce a Plan for the Parishes whichreflected a true majority view of the Parishioners, and their contribution through the Q-DocSurvey must be fully appreciated and acknowledged. Similarly we would never have obtainedthis information without the dedicated efforts of a large team of distributors, collectors andanalysts, upon whom the success or failure of the Q-Doc Survey depended. The SteeringCommittee is most grateful for all their hard work. Then there were the specialist WorkingParties, each with its own brief. The Plan as it appears in Chapter 3 is heavily reliant on theirconclusions and reports.

ndividually, the Steering Committee would like to thank Tim Cook, Development Managerat South Somerset District Council, Area East, for his constant guidance and support, and

for arranging the printing of the Q-Doc Questionnaire and the Summary of the results, and alsothis final Plan document. Special thanks are also due to Sam Miller, for his greatly-valuedshort History of the four villages, and to Delia Cuckney for her excellent photographs whichillustrate and adorn the text of this Plan.

t has been the Steering Committee's objective to achieve the production of a meaningfulParish Plan at minimum cost and maximum relevance, and our thanks are due to all who

have contributed in one way or another in making this possible.1 Parish Plans - Guidance for parish and town councils - July 2004

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NORTH CADBURY: Church: St Michael the Archangel Village Hall with Reading Room Pub: The Catash School: Church of England Primary School Farms: 3 Houses/Residential Units: 197 Population (estimated) 375

GALHAMPTON: Church/Chapel Village Hall Pub: The Harvester Farms: 1 Houses/Residential Units: 146 Population (estimated) 284

YARLINGTON: Church: St Mary the Virgin Village Hall Pub: The Stag's Head Farms: 2 Houses/Residential Units 57 Population (estimated) 125

WOOLSTON:

Farms: 1 Houses/Residential Units 38 Population (estimated) 73

Estimated total population: 857 Total houses/Residential Units: 438

2. GAZETTEER

North Cadbury, with Galhampton and part of Woolston, and Yarlington with the other part ofWoolston are two separate Parishes with a single Parish Council. For simplicity the two

Parishes are referred to as "the Parish" in this document.

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NORTH CADBURY In the Domesday Book as Cadeberia.

By far the largest village settlement at that time inthe South of Somerset.

It was primarily an estate village (along withSouth Cadbury) until the later years of the 19thCentury with the gradual sell-off of various smallerfarms and cottages. Much more of the estate was soldin the 1920's and 1930's.

However the village still retains something of theestate "feeling" especially in the Woolston Road -High Street areas.

The first major changes of the 20th century werethe Mitchells Row Council Houses, built in 1918/20;further developments of Council Housing took placein the late 1940's and late 1950's. It was then (c.1960) that real change began taking place with thefirst bungalows in the village built as "in filling" inHigh Street, oppo-site the Catash andin the Lower CaryRoad area.

Since thenmuch more build-ing has takenplace, both newand"conversions".The village wasalways suppliedby various trades-men. SeveralBakeries, Butch-ers, Grocersshops, etc. andalso from time totime several Pub-lic Houses. Todayjust the Catash Inn(dating from1796) and the Post Office and General Stores remain.The Post Office has been in existence since at least1851.The highest population for North Cadbury Village, asopposed to the whole parish, was 589 in 1831 (afurther 394 were at Galhampton and 126 at Wool-ston). In the cases of Galhampton and Woolstonthese figures were higher in 1821 and 1851 for Wool-ston and in 1851 and 1871 for Galhampton.It is also interesting that in the whole parish in 1851

four families accounted for 1/5th of the entire popula-tion.

The village has continued to grow with small de-velopments of housing, mainly in Cary Road andCutty Lane.

Besides the Catash and the Post Office, the villagecan also boast an excellent Primary School (built in1875 mostly by private subscriptions and from therates). There is also a large 1930's Village Hall,modernised in the 1980's, and a comfortable 'ReadingRoom', the old village school of the 19th century.

The Parish Church built in 1471 in the perpendicu-lar style is greatly admired by villagers and visitorsalike, not only for its architecture but also for thesetting - next to the Elizabethan Manor House andapproached by an avenue of Beech Trees.

The village is largely within a conservation areaand contains many listed buildings, some of themthatched.

GALHAMPTON

Galhampton is one of the few settlements in Som-erset not to be mentioned in the Domesday Book. Ithas always been part of North Cadbury Parish.Some historians seem to think the name may bederived from a personal name, being Gamlin's Ton -the village belonging to Gamlin. This family ownedvast estates in West Somerset.

3. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PARISHby Sam Miller

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North Cadbury Country Fair 2006


One of the earliest mentions of the village is inNovember 1432, when Alice Wynford, widow ofJohn, gave lande at Galhampton (exact spelling notcertain) to help found a chantry and chaplain atYeovil Parish Church to pray for the soul of her deadhusband.

As far as the parish registers are concerned, thefirst entry to especially mention Galhampton was in1568 with the burial (in North Cadbury Churchyard)of Walter Gane.

James Chaffey Cooper of Galhampton became theonly "home bred" High Sheriff of Somerset, this wasin 1738.

Much of the village came in the possession of theRogers family of Yarlington and the Mellea family ofWells, though neither family were resident. Therewere also a lot of private owners (much more than atNorth Cadbury) and there were many small farms,most of which have been "eaten up" by large land-owners.

The population, like other parts of the parish,reached a peak in the middle years of the 19th centurywith the peak occurring in 1871.

Galhampton was a centre for Non Conformistactivity, with the Zion Chapel at Redlands and laterthe Congregational Church being built in MiddleStreet/Long Street. Their building is now used by theChurch of England who had no meeting place exceptthe Parish Church at North Cadbury until 1887 withthe building of a dual purpose building, part Church(St Gabriel) part Village Hall. Later a Village Hallwas built and then replaced in 1970 with the presentbuilding.

The Village remained a quiet place until the 1970'swhen much infilling in March Lane and Long Streetand further barn conversions, etc., in the 1990'saltered for ever its hamlet status. Throughout the late19th and early 20th century Galhampton could boastof its post office, Public House (several at one time),Butchers, Bakers and Village Stores.

It was also a centre for the glove-making trade.Many dozens of women and children making glovesat home for a few pennies a dozen.

Surprisingly as more new homes were built in thelater 20th century so the facilities dwindled and thelast shop and post office closed some years ago, asdid the Garage on the High Road and for a time thepublic house was closed too. This is now reopened,and until recently two Agricultural Engineers existed,with one closing only in 2005.

Some of the older buildings are listed.

YARLINGTONIn the Domesday Book as Gerlington.

The village was early in the ownership of thebaronial family of Montacute who owned the advow-son of the Church. This family owned the estate ofYarlington until 1521 when it became Crown proper-ty.

The Berkeleys of Bruton later purchased the estateand then eventually sold to the Rogers family whoowned it until the Second World War, when the estatewas finally broken up. The new Manor House,(Yarlington Lodge, now Yarlington House), was builtin 1782 and enlarged in 1911

Yarlington Fair was founded in 1315 under a spe-cial Charter to last three days in August every year.Games of swords and daggers (single stick) and wife-selling were two of the more obscure "side shows".The fair was discontinued in 1900 and recreated in the1980's. At one time the village had a thriving schooland post office and also a village shop - all now gone.With a population of over 300 in the 1830's and 40'sit was a busy place. It is still able to produce acommunity spirit envied by some larger villages. Ithas an ancient parish Church and a busy public house.

WOOLSTONIn the Domesday Book as Ufetone.

Woolston has always been a hamlet in the parishof North Cadbury.

Even so it was variously known as Nether Wulfetaand later on South Woolston during the 15th - 16thcenturies.

The history of this small settlement has alwaysbeen associated with North Cadbury and has neverhad a village hall, church or chapel or separateschool. It did have a small shop and draper's businessand also a pork butcher's.

By the 18th century Woolston was a village ofsmall farmers and small holdings in the ownership ofover 24 individuals - some absentee landlords. Thepopulation reached a peak of 841 in 1851 with manyyoung families and therefore lots of children.

Today there is only one working farm left, al-though the Vale of Camelot growers is still goingstrong, during the late spring and summer months.

Not much development has occurred here - a fewbungalows in the 1970's, a barn conversion in the late1980's. Some of the houses are thatched and of someantiquity and are listed.

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1. To give a few examples of the frustrations whichhave come to light as a result of the questionnaire:

1.1) Many parishioners want to be able to renewtheir vehicle licences at the very efficient andwell-equipped North Cadbury Post Office. TheParish Council decided to treat this as a matter ofurgency, and the Chairman exchanged letters withPost Office Customer Care Office in Sunderland.No adequate reason was given as to why thisservice could not be provided in North Cadbury.The two nearest Post Offices (Castle Cary andQueen Camel) were both more than 2 miles fromthe village, which was the set distance withinwhich the facility would not be provided. There isan obscure financial agreement between theDVLA and the Post Office under which the PostOffice pays a fixed sum to the DVLA and decideshow many outlets can be afforded for this pay-ment. Detailed information regarding this agree-ment was refused. There is no way of knowingtherefore whether there is any proper relationshipbetween the annual payment and the service pro-vided. Our frustration was increased when our MPMr David Heath took the matter up at our requestand received no satisfactory answer either. Theproblem has now been resolved to some extent asit has become possible to renew vehicle licenceson-line, but this only helps those who are con-nected to the internet.1.2) As a result of an excellent improvement to theschool buildings at North Cadbury PrimarySchool, an old "temporary " classroom is nowavailable for out-of-school-hours use, and at-tempts have been made to satisfy the enthusiasmof Years 5 & 6 schoolchildren for extra activities.These have so far been frustrated, partly due to alack of volunteers amongst the school parents, andothers young and fit enough to keep up with thechildren, and partly through the indifference of the

Education Authority to the benefit to the commu-nity if joint use of the school facilities were onoffer.1.3) There were more complaints in the Q-Docreplies about speeding traffic than on any othersubject. These were split more or less equallybetween traffic exceeding the speed limit on theA359 in Galhampton, and traffic speeding throughNorth Cadbury, particularly near the School. Al-though approval in principle has been given to a30mph zone in North Cadbury, Somerset High-ways have so far been unable to implement theintroduction of a speed limit due to lack of fundsfor the erection of signs. Efforts are continuing forthis work to be prioritised. As for a 20mph zonearound the Primary School, which is approvedCounty Council policy, North Cadbury's place inthe queue is No. 157, and no funds are available toaccelerate the creation of this zone.1.4) The Q-Doc survey revealed a quite strikingdemographic imbalance in the age-ranges of theparish. In a well-balanced population one couldexpect the 25-40 age-range percentage to be over20%. The 2001 National Census statistics for CaryWard show that the percentage of population in the20-44 age range (a wider age range, but not signif-icantly) was 27%. In North Cadbury & Yarlington,the 25-40 age range percentage is 11%. Due togovernment restrictions on development in ruralareas it is very difficult to take action to redress thebalance, and like many other parishes in a similarsituation, this can put our Parish at risk of accom-modating a diminishing number of young andactive residents. The problem is dealt with morethoroughly in the Section on "Housing Need &Development" (see pp. 7 - 8).1.5) One of the important roles of the Parish Coun-cil is to comment on the Planning Applicationswithin the Parish as they are notified to the Clerk

4. THE PROBLEMS WE FACESO much we would like to achieve. So much we are not allowed to do. So much the responsible

authorities cannot afford to provide for us. This mix of aspiration and frustration summarises the first,investigative phase of the North Cadbury & Yarlington Parish Plan. The Parish responded magnifi-cently to the "Q-Doc" questionnaire, which achieved a 70% response. The distribution, collection andanalysis of these questionnaires and the subsequent research and reporting of the Working Partiesinvolved many willing volunteers. The three "Roadshows" at Galhampton, Yarlington and NorthCadbury provided a valuable opportunity to discuss the conclusions and the options available and topick up some new ideas. The Parish Plan Steering Committee now has a clear sense of the Parish'spriorities and this is reflected in the Action Plan on pages 17 and 18.

Much needs to be done. We are now caught up in a grossly over-regulated society. With less regulationand therefore more up-front money, a lot more could be done to benefit the Parish

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by the District Council. In recent years planninglaws and procedures and guidance, and whatamount to directives from central government,have become more and more complex and difficultto keep up with. Indeed, many of the difficultieswhich the Parish Council experiences in this fieldcome from poor interpretation of badly-draftedlaws and "statements". Expert help and advice isoften needed in applying this Code to individualapplications. It is common knowledge that rightacross the country there is a severe shortage oftrained planning officers, and South Somerset Dis-trict Council is affected as badly as any Boroughor District. This means that the help and advicewhich a Parish Council needs in dealing with theapplications is difficult to obtain, and often whengiven is not very helpful - sometimes advice fromtwo different officers is contradictory. If there wasa lessening of effort to control from the top on a"one-size-fits-all" basis, and local planning au-thorities were given greater discretion, as oncethey were, the complexity of planning-decision-making would be reduced, and more young job-seekers would be attracted to the planning profes-sion.1.6) Not strictly a matter for "frustration", more ofcommiseration, the process of relicensing the Vil-lage Halls in North Cadbury and Galhampton hasinvolved the Treasurers of both halls in hundredsof hours of work and having to meet a very tightschedule. Without their competence and dedica-tion it would have been a task for which a profes-sional could have charged a hefty fee. It is nowapparent that this was purely a tax-raising exer-cise, and had no other purpose. The communitiesof North Cadbury and Galhampton are greatlyindebted to the two Treasurers for all the timewhich they spent on this thankless task.

2. Central to our problems are "the 3 S's", Safety,Standards and "Sustainability". Each of these isnow in its own way out of control, and hovers overour heads like a great black cloud.

2.1) SAFETY, in the context of Health & Safety,first became a matter of public concern in the earlydays of industry and rail transport. Quite rightlythose injured in industrial and railway accidentswere given a right to compensation. Then in theearly 20th century third party insurance was madecompulsory for drivers of motor vehicles. But itwas not until third party liability was extended asa matter of course to local authorities and hospi-tals, coupled with the litigation mania imported

from the USA, that the notion developed that everyaccident was someone else's fault. No one is nowever to blame for hurting themselves. Public au-thorities, hospitals, school teachers, sports organis-ers and others live in a constant state of fear oflitigation; those in their care, especially childrenand young people, are the ones that suffer most, asthe chance to learn how to take risks sensibly, andto show courage in the face of danger is so oftendenied them. Right down to grass-roots levels,prohibitive insurance premiums deter village com-munities from providing the sort of adventurousequipment and experience which these childrenneed.This is a huge national problem awaiting a solu-tion. It is too big for one government or a govern-ment department or even the Law Commission tosolve. What is needed is a Royal Commissionwhich has the time and scope to take a fresh lookat the law of Negligence and the measure of dam-ages, and to consider, among other possible solu-tions, the introduction of compulsory PersonalAccident Insurance and No-Fault Compensation.

2.2.1) STANDARDS: A Code of Conduct whichwas originally intended to apply only to MP's as aresponse to the "sleaze" scandals of the 1990's hasnow been extended right down to the lowest levelof local government, and although this only affectsParish Councillors directly, its impact is widerbecause it has a deterrent effect on individuals whomight otherwise be prepared to serve the commu-nity on parish councils. Nothing illustrates betterthe ignorance of central government regarding theworkings of a rural parish council than its failureto distinguish between a Town Council, which hasa sizeable income and significant delegated pow-ers, and a rural Parish Council, which has a verysmall income and no delegated powers of anyimportance. The Code prevents a Councillor fromparticipating in a debate involving his or her owninterest (as did the previous Code). But the newCode extends this to the interest of "friends"(undefined). As parish councillors like to feel thatthey share a friendship of sorts with most parish-ioners, this can in theory (and sometimes in prac-tice does) stifle any debate on a particular matter.And what about "enemies"? The Code says noth-ing about them, so whereas a parish councillor isrequired to leave a meeting when a matter affectinga "friend' is under discussion, there is nothing toprevent him or her from putting the knife in, whenan "enemy's" interest is being debated. It is a ridic-ulous situation. The Code has no place in the

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deliberations of small parish councils. Govern-ment should agree to exempt these councils fromthe Code, so that the former, perfectly adequateCode can be reinstated.2.2.2) Under the same heading, our Parish Coun-cillors look on helplessly at the new severe restric-tions which the Code places on contacts betweenour District Council Ward members and their con-stituents in this Parish who are submitting a plan-ning application. It can only be regarded as adenial of natural justice and an erosion of localdemocracy that an elected representative of a per-son making a planning application is not allowedto discuss with, advise or speak on behalf of thatperson. No such restriction applies to members ofParliament. Why should it apply to local council-lors?

2.3) "SUSTAINABILITY": This is a wordwhich should never have been allowed to creepinto the official Development and Planning vocab-ulary. It does have a correct and approved defini-tion. It refers to anything:

"which meets the needs of the present with-out compromising the ability of future gen-erations to meet their own needs." 2

This is a fairly open-ended concept but Ministershave taken it upon themselves to interpret it specif-ically, amongst other meanings, to mean that theuse of cars has to be reduced to save fossil fuel. Asfuture generations of car users will soon be run-

ning their cars on some other fuel the ministries'interpretation would not appear to carry muchweight. Unfortunately it goes much further thanthis - planning officers and inspectors are using theword "sustainability" to mean exactly what theywant it to mean (and therefore, because it is a long,mysterious word, silencing debate) in support of anational planning strategy which, if it were contin-ued for any length of time, would effectively ster-ilise rural England. As Ross Clark says; "In theabsence of any precise meaning the concept ofsustainability is pointless. It could mean virtuallyanything, and therefore means absolutely nothing.It has become a marketing slogan". In future anyplanning decision affecting North Cadbury & Yar-lington which incorporates the word"sustainability" will be rigorously scrutinised tosee what the real grounds of the decision are.

3. Despite all the difficulties and setbacks de-scribed above the Steering Committee is firmlyresolved to complete the formulation of the ParishPlan and to implement the Action Plan, keeping asclose to the schedule as possible. Funding will ofcourse affect the timing of certain projects, and thesupport of the Parish community at large will insome cases determine whether a project can beachieved or not. But failure to complete a projectby a target date will not normally result in theabandonment of the project.2 See Ross Clark in “The Times” 29th October 2005

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Rehearsing - Yarlington Fringe


5. THE NORTH CADBURYAND YARLINGTON PARISHSURVEY & PLAN

1. HOUSING NEED AND DEVELOPMENT

1.1 It is important to note that this Section of theParish Plan could be adopted as a "SupplementaryPlanning Document", to be officially taken into ac-count in relation to the "Local Development Frame-work" which will in due course replace the 1998South Somerset Local Plan, and in relation to plan-ning decisions by the Local Planning Authority. Thiswill not necessarily be the case, since any Supplemen-tary Planning Document must conform to local devel-opment policy, and if the object of a Parish Plan is toattempt to lay down guidelines for a parish's develop-ment over a period of 10 years or so, there can be nocertainty that a policy which conforms at the timewhen the Plan is published will continue to conform(or vice versa), taking into account changes in govern-ment policy and political changes at different levels oflocal government, to say nothing of possible localgovernment restructuring.1.2 In many ways the views of the Parish communityas ascertained by the Q-Doc Survey and the subse-quent Village "Roadshows" conform to the principlesset out by central government in its document PPS7 of2003. No great housing need has been established inthe Parish. On the basis of the Q-Doc Survey the needcan be shown at present for about 3 affordable hous-ing units, which can be accommodated within thedevelopment area of one of the villages. As required(in terms of prioritisation) by PPS7, public interestsince the survey has shown that there is support for alimited amount of development on brownfield sites,and the fact that most parishioners wish the villages toremain as they are indicates their agreement to theprinciple that "new housing in the countryside shouldbe strictly controlled". It must be noted that there wasno support at the Roadshows from the present Parishcommunity for social housing, nor was there anyinterest in a Community Land Trust.1.3 It must however be borne in mind that this Planlooks to the future, and that both the principal brown-field sites in the Parish are already the subject ofplanning applications for housing development withinthe government's criteria for housing density. Can onetherefore ignore any future need? Can one overlook ordismiss the demographic imbalance (see p 4) which islikely to continue even after the completion of the twodevelopments referred to above? If the answer to thesequestions is negative, where should further develop-

ment take place in the Parish?1.4 This is where the misinterpretation and falsedefinition of the word "sustainability" by the nowdefunct ODPM has created such difficulties for ruralplanning and development. Central government haseffectively determined that unless new rural devel-opment is within pram-pushing distance of a shop orbus-stop, it will be prohibited. If this pseudo-defin-tion is allowed to persist, the effect on rural areas willbe the very opposite of sustainable. Recalling thetrue definition:

"anything which meets the needs of thepresent without compromising the ability offuture generations to meet their own needs"

what would be the effect of limiting development inthe Parish to North Cadbury, which is the only vil-lage which complies fully with the pseudo-defini-tion, and refusing development elsewhere in theParish? At worst it could mean that North Cadburywould expand, perhaps grossly, on to greenfieldsites, perhaps even encroaching upon and joining upwith Galhampton and Woolston, while a sentence ofslow and lingering death would be passed on Yar-lington. Could anything compromise future genera-tions more utterly than that? Of course the actualthreat of this happening will depend on the pressurefor new housing in the Parish, which at the momentis unpredictable, but for the purposes of this Plan itis essential to state where, if housing is needed, itshould be provided, and the only solution currentlyavailable under government directives and guide-lines is clearly unacceptable.1.5 PPS7 plus "sustainability" (under the ODPMdefinition) equals a total ban on rural development.Take sustainability out of the equation, and a verydifferent picture emerges; (i) strict control on newbuilding in the countryside and (ii) priority forbrownfield sites. This policy would seem to point theway forward provided that disused farmhouses andfarm buildings, wherever located in the Parish, werecategorised as brownfield sites (even if this requiredamending legislation). It would have three advantag-es: (i) it should meet the ongoing not-very-pressinghousing need in the Parish; (ii) the smaller and re-moter settlements in the Parish would be able torenew and "sustain" themselves in the true sense ofthe word; (iii) it would solve the problem of what todo with deserted and decrepit farm buildings; if theywere sited in such a way as to impede the develop-

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ment of a small cluster of well-designed new houses,they could be demolished.1.6 This then is the Planning Development Policywhich the Parish wishes to endorse in its 2006 ParishPlan, and hopes that it will be adopted as a Supple-mentary Planning Document by the Local PlanningAuthority. At the same time it will be the Parish'sintention to take whatever opportunities arise to en-sure that affordable and low-cost housing can beprovided to meet future needs without changing thecharacter of Parish villages.

2. THE PARISH ORCHARD

2.1) After careful examination and a broad measureof support from parishioners we recommend that theestablishment of a Parish Orchard should be includedas a major element in the Parish Plan. Assuming thata suitable site can be found and acquired, and thenecessary permissions obtained, the Parish Orchardwill have a special attraction for two reasons: i) theParish is situated in some of the best apple-growingcountry in England and ii) the unusual topography ofthe Parish, consisting of a hollow square with its fourvillages close to the four corners, invites, if not de-mands, some form of centre of gravity. Here is anopportunity to provide that centre without erectingany building, other than one or two small sheds orshelters.2.2) The principal purpose of the Orchard is to growapples as a communal resource, so that the crops canbe picked and harvested by parishioners. There willhave to be a volunteer supervisory team (the title"orchardeers" has been suggested) who will ensurethe good health, shape and condition of the treesthrough the year. A warden may also be appointed tosupervise the other activities which are proposed forthe site. The Parish Orchard should be large enoughto include a picnic site, an allotment area, a mountainbike track, an adventure playground and as large anarea as can be spared for kickabout football and othersports. Other uses can be considered according todemand once the Orchard is established. As the lanesin the middle of the Parish are all narrow, the Orchardsite will have to include its own parking space, al-though walking and bicycle use will be stronglyencouraged as the primary method of visiting the site.

2.3) If in various different ways the Parish Orchardcan become a meeting-point for a substantial numberof parishioners of all ages and interests, includingteenagers, with minimum disturbance to other resi-dents, it will provide the way forward to a new socialunity linking the several parish communities, whichis currently lacking.

3. SPEED LIMITS

3.1) The difficulty in getting signs erected to mark theNorth Cadbury 30mph zone has already been men-tioned. A quite separate concern is the wanton disre-gard of the speed limits on the A359 throughGalhampton, which most parishioners regard as adangerous road. No speed cameras are displayed onthe road, so the police are unable to carry out spas-modic speed checks. However the South SomersetDistrict Council (Area East) have made road safety apriority concern in their development programme,and have launched a "speed-watch" initiative inwhich trained volunteer teams using portable speedcameras can check vehicle speeds, and send details ofoffending vehicles to the police, who then send awarning letter to the vehicle owner. Volunteers forthis scheme have come forward, and it is intendedthat the speed-watch operation will come into effecton the A359 as soon as training can be completed.

4. THE PARISH WEB SITEwww.northcadbury.org.uk www.galhampton.org.uk

www.yarlington.org.uk

4.1) The first "product" of the Parish Plan survey isthe Parish website which is now already in operation.The Q-Doc response showed a higher than expectedlevel of internet connections in the Parish - 426households, expected to exceed 500 within the next 5years. The benefit to the Parish of having its ownwebsite was therefore obvious, and this has now beendesigned with a view to providing ongoing informa-tion about everything that is happening in and aroundthe Parish, together with links to other relevant web-sites such as Camelot and the District and CountyCouncils. There is also a Notice Board for individualsto post their own notices (e.g. for sale and wanted,events, and services provided or needed) and a com-mentary box for debating local issues and matters ofinterest. There will be a young people's page whichwill also be open to individual contributions. Edito-rial control will be applied with a light touch toindividual contributions.4.2) The objective is to create a permanent up-to-datereference point which will be available to everyhouse in the Parish with an internet connection. Withthis connection no one will be able to say that they are"being kept in the dark" about what is going on. Clubsand Societies which use the website to give notice oftheir meetings and activities will benefit from in-creased support from all four villages in the Parish.And anyone who wishes to "let off steam" (withinreason) can capture the attention of the whole Parish.

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INDUSTRIALCary Concrete Ltd Concrete manufacturer & sand and aggregate suppliersDavid Braybon Tree SurgeonEP Digital Screen Ltd Banner printingGray & Son Agricultural ContractorHeliwest Helicopter MaintenanceJA & E Montgomery Ltd CheesemakerSycamore Process Engineering Ltd Stainless steel processing for food and drink industryTown &Country Retail Ltd Agricultural, equestrian and horticultural suppliersUniversal Steels & Aluminium Metal Stockholders for the Aircraft Industry (South-West) Ltd (a subsidiary of Universal Steels plc)W.H.Longman & Sons Cheesemaker

FARMSJA and E Montgomery Manor Farm, North CadburyAlan Bartlett Fir TreeFarm and North Town Farm. North CadburyWH Longman and Son North Lease and Cadbury Park Farm, Norht CadburyIan Horner Whitewoods Farm, GalhamptonR.House Manor Farm, YarlingtonR.Masters Eastwood Farm, YarlingtonR.Amor Woolston Manor Farm, Woolston

NURSERIESM. Coulsey Vale of Camelot GrowersJ and E Dennis Cider Apple Tree Growers

5. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

North Cadbury is renowned throughout Britain andbeyond for its matchless Cheddar Cheeses. Howeverit is not generally appreciated that there are othersubstantial businesses operating within the Parishboundaries, which together generate a turnover esti-mated at not less than £6 million per annum and em-ploy about 90 employees, of whom 14 are known tobe living in or close to the Parish. The businesses aremostly situated on what one might call the "A359Corridor" from Tor View Farm to the Cadbury Busi-ness Park. Despite the fact that not a penny of theBusiness Rates which they pay is received by theParish, the businesses are none the less important tothe community, not least in providing employmentopportunities, and helping to give the Parish a morewidely-known identity. As part of the Plan, it is in-tended to strengthen the links between the Parishand its businesses. A small charitable fund will beset up, managed by the Parish Council, to whichbusinesses have already indicated their willingnessto contribute. The annual amounts received will bespent entirely within the Parish on projects forwhich the Parish precept is either inadequate or un-suited. And there will be social events to which thebusiness employees and executives will be invited.The more substantial businesses are as follows:-

6. VILLAGE HALLS AND RECREATIONGROUNDS

6.1) North Cadbury and Galhampton are very fortu-nate in having excellent Village Halls and dedicatedCommittees responsible for running them. Substan-tial sums have been raised and spent on each hall inrecent years, and plans for renovation and furtherimprovements continue to be made, with still largercapital sums needing to be found. North Cadbury isplanning a complete replacement of its playgroundequipment to include a section for the Toddlers (seeSection 14). In each village the Hall is at the centre ofthe life of the community - in Galhampton it standsalone in this respect; in North Cadbury it shares thisrole with the Church, the School and the Post Officeand Stores.6.2) The Committees in each village are responsiblefor the upkeep and maintenance of the RecreationGround (Galhampton) and the Playground (NorthCadbury). These open spaces play a vital part invillage life, and the North Cadbury playground alsoprovides a home for the Tennis Club, which is cur-rently the most active sports facility in the Parish. Thepreparation of the Parish Plan coincides with a deci-sion of the District Council to withdraw all annualrecreation ground grants. Up until the current fiscalyear (2005-6) the District Council has contributed50% of the annual expenditure on the upkeep of these

grounds, Parish Coun-cils contributing anequal amount. Fixingthe amount of thegrant has been a mat-ter for the Village HallTreasurers and theDistrict Council; theParish Council hassimply noted the sumsagreed and paid its50% share. The Dis-trict Council's deci-sion to withdraw thegrants means that thewhole weight of theannual grants nowfalls on the ParishCouncil, which ishaving to increase itsprecept to meet the ex-tra cost. It also meansthat the Parish Council

9


will be directly involved in fixing the amount ofthe grants each year. It may be argued that this isdesirable, as the playground and recreation groundare assets of direct local benefit to the community,and there will now be a more meaningful dialoguebetween Council and Committee not only in regard tothe annual budget, but also the longer-term manage-ment and improvement of the open spaces and theirequipment. In the short-term there is an immediatechallenge to be met - the replacement and extensionof the North Cadbury playground equipment for chil-dren of all ages including the Toddlers, for which atotal estimated budget of £30000 has been set6.3) The problem of Yarlington Village Hall is amore difficult one. The existing small hall is totallyinadequate, and because of the limitations of the siteis probably incapable of improvement. Discussionsare ongoing as to whether attempts should be made toextend the existing site or to find a new site and toraise the funds required to build an entirely new hall.

7. THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT

7.1)The Q-Doc responses on this issue were variedand interesting; whatever views were expressed, itwas clear that parishioners have a real concern for thenatural environment around them and how it is beingmaintained and/or neglected. As so many of the envi-ronmental features which make up the landscape ofthe Parish are in private hands, it would be wrong ina parish plan to attempt to re-shape or regulate themin any but the broadest terms. This applies in particu-lar to the hedges and hedgerows which are a domi-nant feature of most of the lanes in the Parish. Manycomments were received on this subject. There was awidespread concern about the effects of mechanicalhedge trimming and the fact that this was done annu-ally. It would of course be much better if hedgescould be laid manually in the traditional manner, butthe economics of farming today rule this out as stand-ard practice. There are however two serious criti-cisms of mechanical trimming when it is doneindiscriminately. The first is that it greatly reducesthe nesting potential for songbirds, some species ofwhich are becoming rare, if not almost extinct, inSouth Somerset. The second is that it is virtuallyimpossible to plant specimen trees in the hedgerows,as the young trees fall prey to the cutter at the sameheight as the rest of the hedge. Another complaintabout hedge-trimming is that the trimmings are left inthe road after the work is finished. This is not onlydangerous, especially to cyclists, but may also beillegal.

7.2) There is currently no dialogue whatever betweenthe Parish Council or any conservation body and thelandowners who own the hedges and either trim themthemselves or employ contractors for the purpose. Inan effort to reduce the environmental concerns ofparishioners, the Parish Council will explore the pos-sibility of developing a hedge-management schemewith the landowners, with a view to some hedgesbeing left untrimmed for more than a year, and fortrees to be planted which could be conspicuouslytagged so that they are avoided by the hedge-trim-mers. If there are amateur enthusiast hedge-layers,their time and skill could also be brought into play onsuitable lengths of hedge.7.3) Although the land on which the bridlepaths andfootpaths in the Parish have been created is mostlyprivately owned, the paths are used by the public atlarge. The Parish is said to have the greatest mileageof footpaths of any parish in Somerset, and it istherefore very satisfying to be able to report that alarge number of parishioners have taken an activeinterest in the SSDC Parish Footpath StewardshipScheme, and to be able to count on their involvementas a factor in the environmental planning for theParish. The Scheme is in essence a partnershiparangement between the Footpath Rangers of theDistrict Council (which has delegated statutory au-thority for the maintenance of the footpaths), and theParish teams who each take responsibility for sec-tions of footpath across the Parish, and carry outmaintenance work under the Rangers' supervision.7.4) For some time some of the old farm tracks in theparish which have been classified as "roads used aspublic paths" ("RUPPS") have been under threat fromtrail-riders and 4WD cross-country vehicles, whichhave caused much damage to the tracks. It is hopedthat new government legislation will enable theCounty Council to put a stop to this once and for all,but the Parish's own footpath stewards will be able toact as a first line of defence in monitoring the im-proper use of the RUPPs, and carrying out minorrepairs and improvements where necessary.7.5) Maintenance of the roads, verges and ditches isthe responsibility of Somerset Highways, a partner-ship between W.S.Atkins plc and the EnvironmentalDepartment of Somerset County Council. There aretimes when it appears that the work that this requiresis more than the Agency can cope with, and therehave been proposals put forward for discussion that agroup of parish councils should get together to em-ploy a "lengthsman", who would spend a fixednumber of days each month in each parish, carryingout the necessary maintenance work and any otherjobs which a parish council would otherwise have to

10


employ an outside contractor to do. The idea has itsattractions, but even with a 50% contribution fromthe County and District Councils the charge to theParish precept would be substantial, and would in-volve a big increase in the Parish Rate. For the timebeing it is felt that the maintenance work is best leftin the hands of the Highway Agency, but the lengths-man scheme will be kept in mind.7.6) The Q-Doc response to the suggestion of plant-ing more bulbs and spring plants in the road vergeswas generally favourable, although some commentedthat this would give the villages a suburban appear-ance. What needs to be done is to find suitable siteswhere the plants will not be damaged by verge trim-ming, and to invite volunteers to do the planting. Amix of daffodils and primroses would seem to bewhat is required, as the introduction and naturalisingof wild flowers is a more complex process than isgenerally recognised.7.7) One other topic needs to be considered under theenvironmental heading, and this is refuse in all itsunattractive forms. There are two sorts of refuse toconsider: 1) disposed or binned and 2) undisposed ordumped.

7.7.1) With regard to the first category, the Parishhas to follow the lead of the District Councilwhich is responsible for refuse collection. TheDistrict Council's plan to introduce "wheelie bins"right across the district has been greeted with sometrepidation by a significant number of parishion-ers, some due to infirmity, others because of un-suitable access (steps and steep slopes), and manybecause some narrow lanes will be completelyblocked when the bins are placed by or in the roadfor emptying. A further problem is that for the newcollection scheme to work properly the refusemust be sorted before collection, and this willalmost certainly mean that each house will requiremore than one refuse container. Fortunately theseare all problems which the District Council hasalready been experiencing where wheelie binshave been introduced in other rural areas, and weare assured of proper individual consultation be-fore final decisions are taken as to the means ofcollection from each property.7.7.2) The second category includes litter anddog-mess, on which subjects some respondentswere quite aggressive. The Parish Council willneed to spend time considering the provision oflitter bins, and arranging for them to be regularlyemptied, but parishioners should also be preparedto say a sharp word to offenders, and in particularto report dogs which are allowed to wander andfoul the pavements unsupervised. If dog-owners in

the Parish were prepared to appoint a voluntarydog-warden to protect their reputation as responsi-ble owners, this would be an initiative whichwould be sure to enjoy general support.

7.8) One interesting environmental improvement wasproposed during the Roadshows, which was to createa wildlife pond in the boggy area behind the StagsHead in Yarlington. This is a proposal which de-serves serious consideration by Yarlington residents,and if favoured by them, should be put to the ParishCouncil for more detailed examination.

8. LOCAL TRANSPORT

8.1) The Q-Doc survey showed that 86% of respond-ents had access to a car on a daily basis and 72%travelled to work or school by car. Rather more than10% of the Parish population is therefore dependenton public transport or voluntary help. To assist thissmall minority and also to encourage others to takeadvantage of alternative transport facilities the Parishwebsite will provide full details of the WincantonRing & Ride Community Accessible Transportscheme (CAT), and the Ansford & Cary Minibus.The CAT scheme is designed to enable residents inthe Wincanton neighbourhood (which includes ourParish) to get to local destinations not served by aconvenient bus-route, and the Ansford minibus isintended to provide transport for small groups wher-ever they wish to go. Although both facilities aresubsidised, there is of course a financial cost for theuse of these services, but senior citizens can obtain abus-pass from the District Council Office at Church-fields, Wincanton, which entitles them to a 50%discount on the Wincanton minibus.3 The Ansfordminibus is designed for wheelchair access (for amaximum of two wheelchairs) and is therefore partic-ularly suited to group outings for elderly or disabledpeople. Volunteer drivers, who are required to attenda short course before being allowed to drive theAnsford minibus, are in great demand, and hiringsfrom within a parish will be greatly facilitated wherethe parish can provide its own qualified driver, as isthe position in our Parish (see the website for details).8.2) The practice of car-sharing in the Parish needs tobe encouraged. It is something which is difficult toorganise centrally except in the case of group expedi-tions. It requires some individual initiative in situa-tions where, for example, two persons or couples findthat they are making parallel journeys to the samedestination fairly regularly. Using the Parish websiteNotice Board to notify a particular trip may alsoprove to be a useful way of saving unnecessary caruse.

113. Free off-peak travel may now be available under new government concessions.


9. LEISURE ACTIVITIES

9.1) The Working Party which looked at this topicdiscovered an enormous range of activities which areon offer in the district, and these will be regularlylisted on the website, either individually or by linkageto the website of the organising body. It is unfortu-nate that most of these activities are offered at somedistance from the Parish; this naturally acts as adisincentive, but it is precisely where the local trans-port and car sharing facilities mentioned in the lastsection can offer a solution. Once again the parishwebsite can provide a unique means of linking peoplewith a shared interest. For example if "Mrs Glad-

stone" would like to attend a course on Politics inSherborne, and wants to find someone to go with, shecan put a notice on the website, and may find thatparishioners "Mr Palmerston" and "Miss Disraeli"would also like to join the course. The three couldthen enrol together. This could apply equally to sportsand other activities which it may be difficult or too

expensive to organise in the parish. Regular contactmust also be maintained with suppliers of courses,such as Yeovil College.9.2) A lot of interest has been shown in Keeping Fit(114), Pilates (84), First Aid (75), and Self-defence(72), and a determined effort must be made as part ofthe Parish Plan to run courses within the Parish onthese physically important activities.9.3) Less active but equally important are computerclasses, an art class and two book clubs. These areeither up and running or in preparation.

10. TEAM SPORTS

10.1) The results of the Q-Docsurvey and the Roadshows gavea rather confusing picture: per-haps "some interest but little en-thusiasm" best describes theverdict. The North Cadbury Ten-nis Club is of course the excep-tion. It provides the one sportsfacility in the Parish which isreadily available. It is activelyand skilfully managed and at-tracts a lot of support from withinthe Parish and beyond. In con-trast, while the Q-Doc responsesshowed a reasonable level of par-ticipatory interest in the threemajor field sports, Football 52,Rugby 45, Cricket 44, at thethree Roadshows virtually no in-terest was shown in any attemptto make up teams from within theParish in any of these games. Forthe time being therefore findingsites in the Parish and creatingpitches (apart from the kickaboutground in the Parish Orchard)will be given a low priority.10.2) There does however seemto be real interest in laying out aBadminton Court in North Cad-bury Village Hall, and thisshould be encouraged, even if theceiling height is less than that

specified for first-class tournaments. There is also alot of interest in Walking as a group recreation, andthis too should be encouraged with the help of theParish web site and notice boards. Twice as manyparishioners are interested in Swimming as in Cricket- another opportunity for group transport or car-shar-ing to and from Wincanton.

Party in the Park - Galhampton

12


11. A REMEDIAL PROGRAMME

11.1) A Parish survey would not be complete if itdenied parishioners the opportunity to express theirconcerns about what worries them most. Q-Doc pro-duced a very-wide ranging response, including someinteresting comments which were perhaps more rele-vant to a social study of village life than to the ParishPlan. In general terms it is probably necessary tore-emphasise that life in villages which are still agri-culturally active requires greater tolerance in regardto farm traffic than would be acceptable in a suburbanenvironment. There were no fewer than 247 com-plaints about "mud on roads", but, as some respond-ents expressly recognised, this is an inevitable part ofcountry life. Except in the driest conditions, whenvehicles have been used in fields they will depositmud on the roads. All that can be asked of farmers isthat excess amounts of soil and solid clods or lumpsare scraped or washed off the tyres of tractors andtrailers before they are taken on to the roads.11.2) Litter (139) and badly-parked cars (152) werealso highly rated as nuisances. The Parish Councilwill need to give consideration to finding ways ofsolving the litter problem and identifying the badly-parked cars (if this complaint mainly relates to thedropping-off and collecting children at the PrimarySchool, it is a brief problem recurring daily that couldonly be solved at enormous expense, which it wouldbe hard to justify in economic terms. The only practi-cal solution is to reduce the number of cars beingused on school runs (see p 15)).11.3 The reference to nuisance from crows was ridi-culed by some, but for the record it should be notedthat other respondents added jackdaws, seagulls andducks to the list, and the quadrupeds complained ofincluded horses, cats, badgers, foxes, rats, rabbits,mice and squirrels. Again it is necessary to rememberthat this is a rural environment!

12. CRIME PREVENTION

12.1) One of the objectives of every parish council,especially in rural areas must be to do everythingpossible to eliminate all crime within its boundaries.Although a lot of concern was expressed in the Q-Doc responses about serious crime, the statistics re-corded by the police in recent years are rather moresatisfactory than these concerns suggest. For the Cas-tle Cary beat, which includes the Parish, for the 12months to January 2006, there were 18 cases ofbodily injury (an increase of 1 on the previous year)and 14 of "common assault" (which may includemugging). There were only 4 domestic burglaries

(down by 3). On the other hand non-domestic bur-glary increased to 20 from nil, and there were 38thefts from vehicles, an increase of 27. There were 68cases of criminal damage, which includes vandalism,compared to 66 the previous year.

12.1.1) Where we are currently failing, and wherethere is also widespread concern, is in relation tojuvenile crime, which can be divided into fourinter-related categories: drunkenness (and under-age drinking), drug-taking, vandalism and graffiti.It is significant that every Q-Doc complaint inrelation to these offences has originated fromNorth Cadbury; Galhampton, Yarlington andWoolston appear not to have been affected. Theproblem is therefore a pernicious but small, local-ised one, and it is important not to blow it up outof proportion. It is equally important to makeevery possible move to put a stop to it. As a resultof a major reorganisation and the introduction of ateam of Police Community Support Officers(PCSO's) who can be contacted by mobile tele-phone, the police are able and ready to help ourcommunity.The Parish Council will try to ensurethat the contact telephone numbers are alwaysaccessible (and updated when necessary) withinthe Parish.

12.2)The following steps need to be taken:12.2.1) We have to find out who is supplyingalcohol and drugs to North Cadbury youth.(Supplies are almost certainly coming from out-side the Parish, but it has to be remembered thatany parent who fails to erect a barrier between hisor her children and any alcohol in the house, eitherby keeping it locked away or by enforcing "houserules", is just as guilty as a retailer who ignores theunder-age law).12.2.2) Every act of vandalism must be reported,with the date and time of the incident, and anysuspicion of who was responsible. A parish log ofall incidents of vandalism is being kept at the PostOffice and Stores.12.2.3) The ingrained fear of reporting the identityof a vandal or young law-breaker must be over-come. Anyone seeing a young person committingan act of vandalism or other criminal act shouldimmediately telephone a PCSO (parishionerswithout access to the internet are advised to copythe PCSO telephone numbers from a Parish NoticeBoard and keep them in a prominent place athome) or telephone Crimestoppers (0800 555 111)with the name of the culprit if possible. The iden-tity of the person making the call can remainconfidential except in the extremely rare situation

13


where an act of petty crime turns into somethingreally serious.12.2.4) Every effort needs to be made to absorbinto the community the small number of youngpeople who are suspected of committing thesepetty crimes. A distinction needs to be made be-tween those who are in the last stages of immatu-rity and who are merely high-spirited, becomingirresponsible under the influence of alcohol ordrugs, and those who through a childhood of ne-glect and possibly abuse have become incapable ofintegrating and of "feeling". As the potential ring-leaders in causing trouble and damage in the com-munity these young people are the ones for whomthe community must somehow show most con-cern, instead of rejection. It is not somethingwhich should be left to the Social Services - it is acommunal responsibility, although a quasi-mater-nal one-to-one relationship can sometimes havethe best results.

12.2.5) Every effort should be made to engage allthese young people in youth activities which areadventurous and physically testing, and financialsupport should be sought for this.

13. CHURCH AND SCHOOL

13.1) It may seem inappropriate to try to include inthe Parish Plan two of the Parish's oldest institutions,both of which have their own governing bodies andeach of which is answerable to a different higherauthority, the Church to the Diocese of Bath & Wells,and the Primary School to the Education Authority inTaunton. It certainly would be tactless and undiplo-matic to propose major changes or new initiativeswithout prior reference either to the Church Councils(North Cadbury and Yarlington) or the School Gov-ernors. This is not the intention. Church and Schoolboth have a strong heart-beat, which does much tokeep the Parish circulation going. North Cadbury inparticular is fortunate in that the School is a Churchof England primary school, and this gives the chil-dren the opportunity to familiarise themselves withthe Parish Church and what goes on there, whichmany other schools do not offer. The active links

between Church and School should be given everysupport by the Parish, and the initial experiment ofinvolving the school choir in church services needs tobe encouraged in the hope that it will become aregular component within the cycle of church servic-es. Music is a vital ingredient both in education andin the church liturgy.

St Michael the Archangel, North Cadbury

14


13.2) The Q-Doc responses showed a widespreadinterest in the Church and its part in the life of theParish. As expected there was a core of parishionerswhose reason for not going to church was that they"had no religious beliefs". This was approximatelyone-fifth (20%) of the population. 28% said that thechurches were important to them for Sunday worship,and 47% for weddings and funerals. Coincidentallythe same percentage thought that the churches were

important as village landmarks.13.3) If one is looking, as part of the Parish Plan, forprojects in which Church and School could jointlyparticipate, there is one which should perhaps begiven serious consideration, even if it cuts across the"local transport" facilities referred to in section 8.Two factors point to a common conclusion; the firstis that the 10 Camelot parishes are not as integratedas they perhaps should be; the second that many ofthe children at the Primary School who do not livewithin walking distance are unable to take advantageof the school buses, and have to be brought andcollected by car by a parent. The solution could bethat a parish minibus is acquired, owned jointly byChurch and School, which could provide churchtransport on Sundays and special occasions, andschool transport during the week.

14. PLAYGROUP AND TODDLERS

14.1) Infants and children up to school age are well-provided for in the Parish. In North Cadbury there isa "Parent and Toddler Group" which meets in theVillage Hall once a week. This is run not just for the

children's benefit, but also as an opportunity formothers to get together on a regular weekly basis, andto take advantage of regular visits from the HealthVisitor.14.2) In Galhampton there is a thriving Playgroupwhich attracts children not just from the parish butalso from places as far away as Queen Camel andEvercreech. It has 7 members of staff and meets five

mornings a weekin the VillageHall. It needs toexpand as it hasnow reachedmaximum num-bers, but faces thetwo problems ofeffectively mo-nopolising theVillage Hall dur-ing the daytimeon weekdays, towhich there isnaturally some lo-cal resistance, andneeding some fi-nancial support(initially at anyrate) in order toprovide the extrasessions.

15. NORTH CADBURY POSTOFFICE & STORES

15.1) The Village Shop and Post Office in NorthCadbury is another energy source for the Parishwhich it is only necessary to include in the Plan inorder to emphasise strongly that it is an essentialcontributor to the life of the Parish as a whole, mak-ing allowances for Galhampton which is more con-veniently oriented for shopping in Castle Cary.15.2) The management of the shop and post office byTed and April Moran received high praise in theQ-Doc survey; about 500 respondents said that theywere customers, divided almost equally between"frequent" and "occasional" users. Excluding Gal-hampton, only 13 parishioners said that they did notuse the shop. Several of those who commented gaveit an "excellent" rating. There was a complete ab-sence of any adverse comment. It is to be hoped mostsincerely that the Post Office and Stores will be onefeature of North Cadbury which will "stay as it is".

North Cadbury School Choir

15


16. VOLUNTEERS

16.1) None of the proposals contained in this Plan canbe attained without the willing and dedicated involve-ment of volunteers. For various reasons (it would behurting to use the word "excuses", and one can justi-fiably put some of the blame on the Health and Safetyculture referred to on page 5) volunteers nationwidein recent years have become a scarce commodity, andcommunities everywhere are suffering as a result.The burden of voluntary work falls on a diminishingcircle of committed people, who find themselvesasked to do more and more because fewer and fewernew volunteers are prepared to make the commit-ment. The problem is then aggravated by the impres-

sion of haste and fatigue given by the overworkedlittle band.16.2) If one includes councillors, school governorsand helpers, committee members, charity collectors,church cleaners and volunteer drivers, there are prob-ably about 60-70 volunteers currently working in theParish. This number needs to be doubled if the Planis to be effective; some of the existing voluntary workneeds to be shared out more equitably, other workwill be quite new. We would like to encourageeveryone in the Parish not already involved in somevoluntary activity to ask themselves two questions: 1)"Why have I not volunteered to do anything?" 2)"What volunteer activity would I be most interestedin?"

Tea Time at Yarlington Fringe

16

17. ACTION PLAN

17.1) The Action Plan on pages 17 and 18 is based on the proposals set out in the ParishPlan. It contains estimates of the costs and (where possible) the start and finish dates in re-spect of each proposal. These are to be treated as estimates and no more, as so much will

depend on funding, and the degree of support received from parishioners.

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Thought to date from 1850 - 60

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