Acknowledgements

This Appraisal was set up following a meeting in the parish arranged by the Parish Council.

At this meeting, Mrs Sue Murphy of the Community Council of Devon explained about appraisals. The aim is to find out the views of members of the community about topics of concern, to assess their significance and to make recommendations.

Appraisals have already been carried out in a number of Devon Parishes.

A Committee of interested people was formed with as catholic a composition as possible to represent the three villages and the outlying farms in the parish and also to reflect different ages. The Committee members were:

We had numerous meetings to decide on the topics for the questionnaire and to draft the questions. Opinions were sought from individuals and groups in the parish.

The Questionnaire was delivered to every house in the parish in December 1998. As calling on 315 houses was beyond the capability of the committee members themselves, a team of Deliverers was co-opted and inveigled to assist. I am most grateful to those individuals who did help us. On some occasions it required several calls to the same house.

The children of Shaugh Prior Primary School, although under the age being considered, were asked about the Appraisal. The consensus of their response is added as an addendum. I am grateful to the Headmistress, Miss C. Pitt who arranged this.

I am grateful to the Parish Council for suggesting this appraisal. Particular thanks are due to Mrs Sue Murphy of the Community Council of Devon who has been arranging appraisals around the County. She has advised and encouraged us and has cajoled us for results. She and the statisticians at Devon County Council advised on the format of the questions, arranged printing of the Questionnaire and analysed the results by computer.

I am grateful to the individual members of the Committee for their many hours of hard work and evenings given up to help formulate the questions which we hope were clear, fair and unambiguous. Particular thanks are due to Mrs E Smerdon and Mrs J Burnapp for their secretarial skills.

Preparation and printing of the Questionnaire and of the Report has to be paid for.

I would like to acknowledge generous financial support received from:

Rural Action for the Environment

Community Regeneration in the South West Partnership (CRISP)

Shaugh Prior Parish Council

Finally but by no means least, I would like to thank those who live in Shaugh Parish who took time and effort to complete the Questionnaire. It is for your benefit that it had been done.

The report consists of a Summary of Results and the Committee’s Recommendations. It is now up to the Parish Council and the community to take whatever action is appropriate.

The Appraisal Committee having done its work is now dissolved and will cease to exist. However the members have agreed to meet informally on an annual basis for several years to come to see what the Parish Council and the Community have done or have not done. If appropriate we will cajole activity, and would aim to ensure that our efforts have not been in vain. We do not want the Report to be forgotten and gather dust in a filing cabinet or be consigned to the round one!

Those who offered help or asked for further information when they completed the questionnaire will be contacted.

Patrick Martin

Chairman

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