Kennett Parish Council - Village Plan Review
The Parish Council started a review of the Parish Plan in April 2021. They have updated the review last examined by the Parish Council in 2011 and can now publish the result of the remaining topics not addressed in the review Action Plan Review 08/2021
Kennett Village Plan ( Chronology) 
12th August 2008 - Kennett Village Plan
Village Plan is now being distributed to every household in the village.
The village plan has now been printed and has been distributed to every household in the village over the coming week. The document includes an action plan to address the issues highlighted from an analysis of the questionnaire results obtained from over 60% of the villagers.
To read a copy of the Village plan via this web site click on the following link
The summary and highlights of the plan are as follows:-
In the market research:
79% want a lower speed limit at the school
78% support the restriction of weight of vehicles travelling through the village
67% consider Station Road a danger spot, particularly outside the school
Many villagers feel the railway bridge at Kennett Station is overloaded
95% are disturbed by traffic noise
67% think there is a need for lower speed limits on Station Road
The overall analysis of the results from the questionnaire has shown the following top findings :
95% say the countryside is important to them
95% are disturbed by traffic noise
88% say parking at the school is a problem
85% say litter bin provision is poor
87% want to protect wildlife
84% think the school is important to the community
80% would help with a Good Neighbours scheme
80% want Kennett to develop as a Village community
79% want a lower speed limit at the school
78% support restriction of the weight of vehicles
72% say that during car boot sales parking is a problem
72% of the village recycles
70% want a new village hall
67% want a lower speed limit in Station Road
55% want more footpaths through the local countryside
49% want a lower speed limit in Dane Hill Road
48% want a doctor's surgery
44% have lived here for less than 5 years
42% want a greater police presence
39% use the train
7% (only) say no new dog bins are needed
2% (only) think large groups of housing development are acceptable
The main theme running through the survey is the ongoing noise disturbance and traffic pollution affecting Kennett from traffic travelling through the Village; 95% are disturbed by traffic noise.
Street parking is considered to be a problem by most people in Kennett. The main area of risk is around the school (88%); and then, particularly at set-down and pick-up times. Also on Sundays outside the car boot sale site (72%). Other places mentioned as causing problems are Station Road, outside the station; and along Dane Hill Road from Church Lane past the Pumping Station to the cross-roads.
'The two danger areas are round the school at the pick-up times and the Sunday Car Boot Sales'
'The boot sale should have more signs encouraging people to park on the recreation ground and not dangerously on the road.
Is there anywhere near the school where a car park could be created, as the lack of footpaths make it impossible to walk some children to school; and safer parking should be available'.
When asked to identify 'danger spots' on the roads in Kennett respondents identified:
'Outside the school' (67% of respondents);
At the car boot sale site (45% of respondents);
At the railway station and bridge.
The cross roads at the Bell Inn were also deemed to be a major danger spot.
Speeding Traffic is a problem throughout Kennett. 67% consider Station Road a danger spot. The main roads through the Village, and particularly Dane Hill Road from the A11 to its junction with Station Road, and then continuing along the length of Station Road through to Bury Road, carry HGV traffic which is finding its way from the A11 down to the A14 Trunk.
The continuation of Dane Hill up to Kennett Cottages and the Herringswell Road is also said to suffer from traffic travelling too fast and from HGV traffic. The turn at the Bell Inn is considered too tight for large lorries which frequently mount the curb in doing so.
'From 0630 - 1730 Mon - Fri 50/60 ft articulated lorries use Church Lane and Dane Hill Road as a short cut (rat run) from A11 to A14 over the Kennett railway bridge. That coupled with bad parking at the school is an accident waiting to happen'.
The problem of speeding and 'overweight' traffic provoked the single biggest response in the Survey. Although not strictly a 'speed control' measure, support for the restriction of the weight of vehicles travelling through the Village was the most popular (78%).
The size of lorries using the roads is seen to be particularly dangerous to children and old people; and to pedestrians in general, because of the narrowness or lack of footpaths.
Many people feel the railway bridge is overloaded when used by HGV's.There is widespread support for a reduction in the speed limit in a number of areas; and particularly to 20 mph outside the Primary School.
'I regularly walk from the school to Lanwades and often feel very threatened by the speed of traffic rushing past -- especially in summer when foliage along by the playing field was not kept under control. Should not be 60 mph there'.
'Enforcement of weight limit on bridge to stop lorries using it as they are a danger. At the Bell lorries cross to the other side of the road to turn, sometimes mounting the curb'.
'Dane Hill Road is not suitable for six wheel HGV lorries and the like'.
The most supported place for a reduced or additional speed limits is outside the School. (79%). But what respondents would really like to see is a significant reduction of 'through traffic' throughout the Village, with no speed limits greater than 40mph, and much lower at the school. 67% support limits in Station Road, and 49% in Dane Hill Road and from the A11 to the school.
'It should be 30 mph from The Bell all the way to A11 junction'.
An action plan has been written up using the results and the analysis gained from the questionnaires. The document has been agreed by the village plan committee and has been submitted to the Kennett Parish Council.
15th April 2008 - Kennett Village Plan
Village Plan now written and submitted to the Parish Council for comment.
The village plan has now been written up using the results and the analysis gained from the questionnaires. The document has been agreed by the village plan committee and has been submitted to the members of Kennett Parish Council for their comments and input. Once agreed the plan will be bound and printed and then circulated to the village and interest parties in the district and county councils.
10th December - Kennett Village Plan
Thank you all for completing your questionnaires which resulted in a response of 66% which was awonderful effort. The data is now being analysed and the Kennett Village Plan Committee hope to have the results back shortly.
10th December 2007 - Questionnaires sent for data collation and analysis
The completed village plan questionnaires have now been sent for data collation and analysis and we hope to receive the initial results shortly.
19th November 2007 - Village Plan Questionnaires collection
The village plan questionnaire has now been collected from the residents of the village and so far we have 60% return. These will shortly be sent for data correlation and analysis and will form the basis of the action plan to be outlined in the Kennett Village Plan. If you have not had your questionnaire collected could you please post it headed " Kennett Village Plan" or drop it in to:
10e Dane Hill Road
Kennett
Nr. Newmarket
Suffolk
CB8 7QX
******Before the 30th of November 2007.For those of you who have taken the time to complete the questionnaire a VERY BIG THANK YOU.
4th November 2007 - Village Plan Questionnaire distributed
The village plan questionnaire has now been distributed ( abeit slightly late ) to every household in Kennett. If you have not completed it please do as the cut off date is the 10th November 2007. Between now and then volunteers will be calling to collect completed questionnaires.
Remember that your views are important, the more responses we have the more we can say that the issues and requirements made are truly those of a majority of the village. Additionally of course if you complete your questionnaire then you stand a chance of winning the £100 first prize in the draw.
3rd October 2007 - Questionnaire in Printing
The village plan questionnaire is now in printing and will be delivered to each household over the next week. It is your chance to have your say on how Kennet should change in the future and also what bugs you about the village. Hopefully we can then swat the bugs!!!.
You will also have a chance to win a prize, one of which is £100 in cash but you must complete a questionnaire to enter. Look out for your questionnaire, complete it and the coupon and return it to the volunteer when they call.
If you want a sneak preview of the questionnaire then click on the following button. 
Note:- This example cannot be used to enter the competition
17th September 2007 - Village Plan Questionnaire nearing completion
The village plan questionnaire is nearing completion ( in final draft) and is going to be distributed shortly. It is your chance to have your say on how Kennet should change in the future and also what bugs you about the village. Hopefully we can then swat the bugs!!!.
You will also have a chance to win a prize, one of which is £100 in cash but you must complete a questionnaire to enter. Look out for the questionnaire which will be distributed to Kennett residents shortly
2nd August 2007 - Villagers urged to have more say
"Villagers urged to have say on plan" article in this weeks Newmarket Journal and Cambridge Evening News. See News page - Media coverage for more details.
July 2007 -Village Plan Pre- Survey Leaflet
Recently Village Plan the steering group delivered to the Kennett residents a pre-survey leaflet for them to complete and return,( press the button for an example 
), to understand what issues affecting the village were important to them. The objective being that the steering group could then put together the survey questionnaire that could encompass some those issues. The response was fairly good but we like more input if possible.
To see what issues have been raised so far press this button to see the results 
, if you have some issues that have not been already raised then why not complete a form 
and call Barclay Dutson on 01638-751098 or E-Mail it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. We need your input so that we can truly reflect the feelings of the village in both the questionnaire and the resulting Village plan.
WHY PRODUCE A PARISH OR COMMUNITY PLAN?
'If you do not know where you are going, how will you know when you have got there'
As part of its policy of 'active citizenship' the Government wants to give more power to local people to decide what's best for their own communities. If you as a community can show that you are taking your future seriously, a Parish Plan might increase your chances of getting local authority support to enhance your community's economic, social and environmental well-being. It will give you the evidence to help inform policymaking by a range of organisations, from the local planning authority to police and health services. It will also help you to develop and maintain effective working relationships with all those outside bodies that provide services to your community, now or in the future. Parish Plans, with your enthusiasm and determination, can make things happen in your community. The benefits of producing an Action Plan within the Parish Plans are many. They:-
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- Give all local people, not just the confident, the chance to develop a vision for their community, identifying positive and negative issues.
- Influence and inform others including Community Strategies and Local Development
To understand more click on 
to understand what a Village plan is how it can help us a community enhance the village amenities and environment and potentially influence district and county environmental and planning strategies.
The following people in the village have formed an initial steering group ( more are always welcome!) to put facilitate the creation of the Village Plan. The overall content however will come from ideas and comments from the village population themselves. To stimulate this the steering group will be publishing a timetable of events and will be delivering and collecting a questionnaire asking you as a resident about the village and how you feel about various aspects of it and how this could be improved. The questionnaire responses will be analysed and the results utilised to put together an action plan to effect the requested changes in the viullage where we can. Some of these changes may be able to be made by the local residents but others may need the co-operation of district and possible county councils.
The Kennett Village Plan Steering Group - Contacts
Barclay Dutson (Chair)
Josephine Swanson
Robin Swanson
Anthony French
Derek Miles (Webmaster & I.T.)
Kennett Parish Plan: Schedule 2: 18/06/2007
This is a provisional schedule, outlining the basic timeline of events for the production of the Village Plan. It also shows progress made so far and gives access to steering group documents as they are created.
2007
April:
Apply for funding from Acre. Appoint Steering Group: Barclay Dutson (Parish Council Vice Chair and Editor), Keith Mobbs (Parish Councillor) and first volunteers for Housing, Transport and Survey tasks, including Derek Miles, Robin and Jo Swanson and Anthony French. -Completed
May:
Acquire and review survey software with Acre. First Steering Group meet. - Completed - Survey software acquired and reviewed with Derek Miles
First Steering Group meeting carried out 
June:
Funding approved. Second Steering group meet: recruitment continues. (Monthly) team meeting dates set. Decide and allocate subjects and tasks for the plan. Consult residents' sample for indication of areas of interest for questionnaire: 120 leaflets sent out, Notice on Parish Boards and in Bell pub.
120 leaflets sent out ( see as either PDF or Word Format to obtain and initial feeling for the issues and thoughts in the village. (Please note that you still complete and return this document or E-mail it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Notice placed on Parish Notice Boards and at the Bell Inn
Responses Received and documented ( see the following button: )
July:
2nd Steering Group Meeting carried out 
Contact Local Authority stakeholders for support. Publicity begins for plan. Possible web site developed.
August:
Review meeting with Acre
September:
Questionnaire drafted and completed
October:
Questionnaire printed, distributed and collected. Determine Analysis style, requirements and report contents, draw up specification.
November/December:
Data Analysed( External analysis house), Prize draw takes place, Analysis results, report and data returned from analysis
house. Identify plan contents, carry out necessary research. Communicate to village progress on the plan
2008
January/ February :
Draw up and produce first draft of plan, continue communication to village.
March:
Circulate for review. Public meeting for results of plan
April:
Plan and Action Plan published and adopted by Parish Council.
3rd Steering Group Meeting carried out 
July:
Letters send to Stakeholders - completed
Poster placed in Parish Notice Boards, Pubs, Post Office and Bury Filling Station- completed
Explored the possibility of making a copy of the survey available on the internet for completion by
residents. - completed
Press Releases sent to Newmarket Journal, CB8, Bury Free Press and Cambridge Evening News. - completed
Agreement to involve pupils in village plan - input to questions on the questionnaire and
to roll in a village plan project into their work. - completed ( Josephine)
Further investigation into sponsorship from businesses and shops/ pubs. The feeling is that we
will explore that route if additional funds are required for the plan. - completed
New Kennett website established and available on the World Wide Web - completed
i.e. Kennett goes global !!! - completed ( we went global)
Planning - interest shown by the members in the development of existing potential sites
and brownfield sites to reduce heavy traffic, "industrialisation" and to obtain section 106 grants
to develop the local community - Outstanding
August:
Design and proofing of the village plan questionnaire - completed
Development of a flyer for the Village Plan Open Workshop/ Meeting to be held at the school
mid September. This session is to explain to the residents, what the village plan is,
progress made so far and to get feedback on ideas and thoughts from the residents. - cancelled
Delivery of Flyer to be carried out by members on August 27 2007. - cancelled
Develop leaflet for the school to involve teachers, PTA and Pupils to raise interest and comments.
Identify ideas to work with the school on projects involving the pupils and the village. - outstanding
Research special interest groups in the village( identify, document and ask views) - outstanding
Investigate questionnaire data analysis with Warwick Networks and security of data both
before and after dispatch. - completed
Identify potential printers and establish costs and lead times - completed
September :
Plan Content and Presentation of Village Plan Open Workshop/ Meeting - cancelled
Village Plan Open Workshop/ Meeting - cancelled
Collate results of Village Open Meeting/ Workshop- cancelled
Finalisation of the Questionnaire ready for printing ( i.e. test Questionnaire ) - completed
Recruit team for Questionnaire distribution and collection - completed
October:
Print Questionnaire - completed
Potentially put copy of questionnaire on Kennett Village internet site - completed
Distribute questionnaires - completed
November:
Recover completed forms - completed
Make security copy of questionnaires - cancelled
Carry out prize draw - completed
Dispatch completed questionnaires to Warwick Networks - completed
December:
Receive first cut of data analysis - completed
January:
Analyse the results of the questionnaire.
Receive report and raw data
Carry out any further local data analysis
Publish first draft of questionnaire results ( Main findings)
Decide on Village Plan document content headings, etc.
February:
Obtain additional information for Village Plan Document
Create Village plan document first draft
Proof Village Plan Document
Submit Village Plan for printing
Develop Action Plan
Publish Village Plan Document
Make Document available on the Kennett Village web site.
Distribute Village Plan Document ( Where Applicable)
Publish Action Plan
Distribute to Stakeholders
Outline Plan for Establishing the Kennett Village Plan
This outline plan was put together from a series of thoughts about how the Village Plan could be facilitated and our interaction with both District and County Councils.
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- Identify Village Plan Committee
- Agree plan objectives
- Defining the style of plan to produce the plan
- Agree terms of reference for the members
- Obtain reference material, read it and comment. ( Other Village plans & questionnaires)
- Define and agree communication methods ( Define village communication plan)
- Brainstorm and agree plan content
- Review content with ACRE
- Communicate content to the village
- Identify methods of obtaining content ( Who, how, where, why)
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- Church Records
- Electoral Roles
- Local Historians
- Local Residents
- Local Archaeologists
- Local Wildlife experts
- Local Botanists
- Local Services and Amenities
- Maps and Documents ( Libraries)
- Schools & Education Information
- Village hall ( History)
- Recreation Ground History
- Local Businesses
- Recreation Ground History
- Railway History
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- Identify questionnaire content required and why
- Define method of analysing response
- Agree content of questionnaire( possibly using examples from other villages)
- Put together a draft questionnaire
- Review and agree questionnaire
- Communicate outline content to the village
- Print questionnaires
- Distribute
- Collect
- Analyse the results
- Format the results and agree presentation method
- Design village plan document
- Produce draft village plan & Review ( including ACRE)
- Carry out amendments
- Produce first revision
- Presentation of plan results to the village
- Set up village action plan from the actions identified in the plan ( Short, Medium, Long term actions) Identify actionees for the tasks to be carried out
- Set up plan review dates
- Set up Village Plan document review dates
- Maintain communication to the village on tasks achieved from the plan.
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