COMMUNITY support for a parish plan was the key to its success, a public meeting heard.

More than 80 people turned up to a public meeting on Monday night to discuss Hurworth Parish Council’s proposal to create a parish plan for the area.

It was an opportunity for villagers to get information and give their views before questionnaires are sent out to every house in the parish.

The questionnaires, which are due to be delivered to households by the end of February, will gather statistical information and give villagers a chance to say what they would like in the parish.

Councillors made a presentation before opening the floor for questions.

Councillor Peter Allan said topics including traffic, parking, leisure activities, law and order, development and the environment were all issues expected to form part of the plan.

He said any other issues villagers wanted to raise could also be included.

“In the next ten years, this will probably be your only opportunity to really put forward your input,” he said. “It is your chance to show what you really want in the parish for you and your children. It is about you.”

He said the plan would provide continuity between elections every four years, as parish plans last ten or five years.

One resident questioned the validity of a parish plan at all, branding traffic-calming measures in Middleton St George a “disaster” and criticising developments in other villages with parish plans.

“If that is what a parish plan produces, you can forget it,” he added.

Other concerns raised included the preservation of the conservation area; foot access across the Tees since the privately-owned Head-Wrightson bridge had closed to the public, and notice boards.

Ian Holme, chairman of the parish council, said the document could help influence policies and decisions of Darlington Borough Council, Durham Police and the NHS.

Villagers filling in and returning the surveys was a crucial part of the process as evidence to show the plan represented the community’s views was the key to its success, he said.

“It is making sure the people who make the document have got the community behind it,” he said.

“Our influence is limited. What we are trying to do is increase the amount of influence we carry. That has become more and more important at national level as well.”

A draft questionnaire can be viewed and commented on at www.communigate.co.uk/ne/hurworthpc.