Rural Village Services Group - share your best practice and case studies!

The Rural Services Network would love for you to share your stories and local projects with us so that we can share them with the wider market town group.

If your council has been involved in a project or story which you are proud of and which would be of interest to other members, please do let us know. This doesn’t need to be lengthy. Concise and to the point is often best!
You can download a template return form here or simply send a short written summary by email to [email protected].

Returned case studies: (click on the council logo to view)

Draughton Parish Council

DRAUGHTON ACTION TO
ZERO

Key theme:
Rural Net Zero

Eccleshall Parish Council

FOOTPATHS MAINTENANCE SCHEME

Key theme:
Rural Health and Care

Froyle Parish Council

INCLUSIVE COMMUNICATION

Key theme:
Rural Digital Connectivity

Below is a summary of a case study kindly returned by Draughton Parish Council:

Draughton Parish Council

Key theme:
Rural Net Zero

DRAUGHTON ACTION TO ZERO

Draughton Parish Council have kindly shared a case study on how they will help achieve national net zero targets and mitigate the effects of climate change in their own area.
Project aim
The Council set up our DAZ project, run by a working group of councillors and village volunteers, to explore ways of enabling our community to help achieve national net zero targets and mitigate the effects of climate change in our own area.

Below is a summary of a case study kindly returned by Eccleshall Parish Council Council:

Eccleshall Parish Council

Key theme:
Rural Health and Care

FOOTPATHS MAINTENANCE SCHEME

Project aim:
Eccleshall Parish Council has a large number of public Rights of Way throughout its parish, many of which are well used but suffered from a lack of funding with regards to maintaining access and a lack of signage, due to reduced funding from the County Council, the lead authority responsible for maintaining these Rights of Way. During Covid, residents were restricted to walks within their local area and were keen to explore the rights of way within the parish, many of which were suffering from a lack of maintenance.

Project actions:
The Parish Council liaised with Staffordshire County Council who welcomed our proposal to fund a self employed footpaths operative who would undertake works to maintain the most used Rights of Way within the parish. Tasks undertaken include the cutting back of vegetation, repairing and replacing stiles and fingerposts, and installing new signage (with permissions). There have been some larger jobs which require more than one person, and the County Rights of Way team have worked with us to arrange for volunteer support.
Schemes that are linked to this include the provision of additional signage along Rights of Way in Bishop’s Wood. The council identified the need for additional signage and produced a proposal to identify the requirements. The County Rights of Way officer was able to deliver this scheme in conjunction with Amey’s community volunteer scheme.
The scheme has also led onto the production of a Circular walks booklet, which has been very well received. The footpaths promoted in these walks are those which we prioritise for regular maintenance.

Below is a summary of a case study kindly returned by Froyle Parish Council:

Froyle Parish Council

Key theme:
Rural Digital Connectivity

INCLUSIVE COMMUNICATION

Froyle Parish Council recognised that they were struggling to communicate effectively with all members of their community, as residents span a wide range of age groups and there is a variety of preferences for communications using differing media. There were also several different websites for village activities with no single place for accessing local information. Following research into how the community engaged with different forms of communication, they took action to coordinate and improve how local information is delivered within their community.