1. Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining us at theDerrington Way Ahead Village Trail Community Consultation Day

2. In October last year we carried out a survey asking people for their views on a number of possible projects including the creation of a Village Trail and other environmental enhancement projects.We had a really good response to this survey,and because of this positive response from the village, we successfully applied for grant funding from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Communities Mean Business Leader Programme, under the title of....... Understanding, Celebrating and Strengtheningour Local Community 3. There are four elements to this project ....

Creation of a Village Trail, with interpretation panels including details on our community,rural, industrialand transport history and heritage.

Promote and support walking and cycling opportunities,including the installation of cycle parking,

Design and installation of Gateway Entrances/Features to the village.

Enhancement of wildlife through erecting nesting boxes and bat boxes

4.

We would like to involve as many members of the community as possible throughout the project, including working on art and design and seeking peoples ideas/perceptions of the village.

We will encouragepeople of all ages and abilities,especially children and young people, to use the Trail once it is complete, with the possibility of incorporating clues/images hidden within the panels design or en-route.

We will work with the Brownies and other groups to include them in theseprojects,e.g. nest box building, environmental activities,design, artwork,stories etc.

5.

The birds of the world are in serious trouble,andcommon species are in decline.In England,overall farmland bird populations fell by 5 per cent last year to their lowest level for 40 years.By putting up nest boxes we hope to encourage local bird populations to recover.

Providing bat boxes will extend bat roosting opportunities locally and help reinstate bat numbers.Bats are helpful for many reasons, not least because they eat billions of tons of insects each summer - a natural friend to farmers and gardeners!!

6.

We aim to promote the use of the cycle track for access to Haughton and Stafford (for people who are reasonably active,this journey is often quicker than by car/bus),and to promote the use of the bicycle for journeys within the village,by providing cycle parking and attractive,colourful,bespoke signs.

We hope to encourage and support walking and cycling where appropriate.Walking and cycling are more sociable than other forms of transport and can help bring about social contact and could be a means of accessing local shops for reasonably able people.

7. HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We need any archive photographs,slides,negatives,maps or other documents.

We need ideas-all suggestions welcome!

We need design suggestions for the panels

We need help making the bird and bat boxes

We are keen to involve the whole community, especially the older people from the village - wed like them to share their wealth of knowledge,memories and stories.