Work begins on village profile and community plan for Middleton-in-Teesdale

Cllr John Boocock

WORK to come up with a community plan and village profile for Middleton-in-Teesdale has taken a step forward.
The idea behind the initiative is to find out who is doing what in the village – and how the various groups can benefit from working together.
Details were outlined by parish councillor John Boocock, who explained a meeting had been arranged at which nine people representing 11 Middleton organisations had been present.
He said Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services, Middleton Plus Development Trust, the carnival committee, cricket club and churches were among those represented.
Cllr Boocock said they were quite happy for the parish council to lead the project.
He said one of the reasons for drawing up a new village profile was because the 2006 parish plan required updating.
“We have to consider the needs of younger and older members of the community,” he told the parish council's October meeting.
He said he had been encouraged by the response from the groups.
“There is no evidence of cliques or ‘our group is better than your group’. It was great hearing what people were doing.
“The biggest thing is trying to get a picture of who is doing what.”
Cllr Boocock said the meeting had thrown up a number of issues.
“There is a lot of information that could be shared between groups that is not currently being shared – particularly when it comes to funding,” he said.
He said communication was another area which could be improved.
“There is the Utass newsletter, the school newsletter, the parish council newsletter. They don’t link in with each other. There is also the duplication of websites and social media.”
Cllr Boocock also highlighted the relatively small number of people involved in several different groups.
“The one thing people said was they were desperate to find volunteers. The only ones to find volunteers were the Christmas lights committee.”
This had led to a discussion on how to bring in more people – especially the younger generation.
Cllr Lynn Oxby said this was an ongoing issue in Middleton.
Cllr Christine Gilbert added: “It seems such a shame we have so many groups struggling for members.
“There is an argument for amalgamating some of them.”
Cllr Boocock said the group would meet again in March. In the meantime, he was planning to contact as many groups as he could find to ask if they wanted to contribute to the community plan and village profile.