Do we need parish plans?

DOES Culcheth need a parish plan?
Until we heard a presentation on behalf of Cheshire Community Action at a meeting of Culcheth and Glazebury Parish Council, we had our doubts.
After all, with an active parish council, not overtly divided by party politics and more concerned with the well-being of the community, and with plenty of well-run community and voluntary organisations, why is anything else needed?
But after hearing how a parish plan works and how other villages across Cheshire have benefited, we now feel a local initiative can do nothing but good. Particularly as the plan will be seen as a pilot for the rest of the borough.
We are pretty sure the parish council at Culcheth will be keen to press ahead with a plan. But it is vital that members of the local community also get involved too.
Before anything can happen, a steering group must be set up which must be a separate organisation, with its own chairman, secretary, treasurer and other officers. The parish council should be represented – but should not be in control.
Herewith could lie the problem. In the past, Culcheth people have not showed enthusiasm for “getting involved.” A few years ago, an attempt to set up a Village Design Group, which might have helped oppose some of the planning excesses of recent times, failed because the apathy of the public. No-one would get involved.
This time it must be different – and it can be, particularly if the advice of Cheshire Community Action is needed.
They suggest launching the plan not with a formal meeting but with an informal occasion, such as a barbecue or social evening. “People don’t go to meetings”, they say. And they are probably right.
Culcheth Community Day, in May, is already an annual demonstration that the village DOES have a vibrant community spirit. We wonder if the launch of a parish plan could be linked to it in some way?