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Parish
Council Newsletters
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One of the recurring comments in the returned Parish Plan
questionnaires was that parish residents would like to know more about
decisions and efforts made by the Parish Council. With this in mind and
as part of the drive to achieve 'Quality Parish' (QP) status, the council
has committed to produce a quarterly newsletter. The QP guidelines state
that such a newsletter should 'be made available' to all parish residents,
without going as far as dictating the distribution methods. This raises
a dilemma: producing a paper newsletter carries a burden of cost, even
if it is distributed by volunteer labour. The print run of 500 copies
for the first issue has cost £150.00, which was money hard to find!
This cost has to be borne out of the Parish Council precept, hence each
ratepayer pays a share, even if the publication is not welcomed by them.
Our council is very conscious of making every pound count and consequently
is very keen to hear comments - favourable or otherwise - from any interested
party on this subject. We need to distribute the information but we would
also like to do it for the absolute minimum cost.
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Producing a paper newsletter is very resource-consuming in that (a) a lot of effort has to be applied to get it printed and (b) shoe-leather and/or petrol must be used to deliver it to all homes in the parish. One of the ways to reduce production costs is to make the detail available for download from our website - distribution effort is then almost zero! However, we are aware that not all homes and residents have interent access, so not everyone will be covered by this. So, at the last Parish Council meeting, the decision was taken to deliver the first issue to every house so that everyone was aware of its existence and subsequently, the newsletter will be posted on this web site for anyone to download. A number of paper copies will be printed (at the lowest possible cost) and made available to be collected from various public locations, such as our pubs, shops and post offices. STOP PRESS! Due to the kind co-operation of the committee which publishes the Parish Link, we are able to include our newsletter in their print run and delivery rounds. The Council covers the cost of the printing and the band of doughty volunteers which delivers the Parish Link covers the ground. A number of copies will be printed separately and placed in strategic locations around the villages for the benefit of those who either (a) don't have internet access or (b) do not subscribe to the Parish Link. The Parish Council is very grateful to the Parish Link committee for this service! |
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DO let us know your views on this initiative!! By email,
or by contacting one of the councillors
direct.
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| February
2005 Newsletter (pdf) |