At the beginning of 1998 South Hams District Council (SHDC) wrote to the Holne Parish Council pointing out that Holne had not had a village appraisal for more than 10 years. SHDC suggested that one should be undertaken. Holne Parish Council contacted Sue Murphy and asked if she could help and advise the parishioners on how to conduct an appraisal.

A steering group was formed which held its first meeting on 26^th April 1998. Meetings of the group were held at monthly intervals, either at Pixie Cottage or at Higher Michelcombe and we are very grateful to Francoise Elvin and Jackie Parsons for their hospitality.

The members of the committee are:

As a result of these meetings a questionnaire was produced and circulated to every house in the Parish of Holne. Seventy-six households completed the questionnaire out of 109 that were circulated (giving a 70% response rate). Some felt the questions were biased and would not respond, although adequate space was given for comment and other views. It would have made the appraisal more complete if we had received more of these comments. However, we are grateful to the 175 people who took the trouble to express their views. It is encouraging that so many have taken an interest in the future of the beautiful and peaceful parish of Holne. (Residents comments are in boxes in italics)

We now submit our report on the results of the appraisal. The statistics have been compiled by the Community Council of Devon, and we have reported in a factual manner for your information. The main concern at the start of this exercise was the lack of a village shop, and this has been rectified during the period of the appraisal, to most residents’ delight. We hope other concerns can be solved as quickly.

We are grateful for the help and guidance of Sue Murphy, and her staff at the Community Council of Devon. We also thank Holne Parish Council, The Dartmoor National Park Authority, SHDC and Rural Action for their financial help and to everyone who completed the forms or took part in any way.

Many have offered their help in running various activities, and to get these started a public meeting will be held on Tuesday 20^th July. The meeting will be for you to discuss the report, to air your views and to volunteer for any of the activities that have been proposed.

Finally, we hope you enjoy reading this report and feel the exercise has been worthwhile.