Community initiatives in Studley

The Chairman of Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Cllr Sir William Lawrence will be visiting Studley at 10am on Tuesday 1 February to help launch two new community initiatives.

The first is a proposed piece of artwork to enhance the environment and provide a welcoming gateway to the village and the second is a recipe book to help support local businesses in Studley both aided with funding from Stratford District Council initiatives.

The arts project has been funded from a Section 106 Agreement* enabling Planet Arts an arts partnership to work with local schools in Studley as well as older age groups to help create a new piece of artwork for the community.  The schools have been helping the artists research the history of Studley and come up with designs for the proposed new sculpture on the Barley Mow island. 

The project is still in the planning stages and all the artwork that has help influence the ideas and designs will be on display at Studley Village Hall for the first week in February (from 1 Feb to 8 Feb).  Local residents young and old are encouraged to go and have a look at the different ideas and help choose their favourite.  The proposed sculpture is due to be complete in early June.

Also being launched is a new Recipe Book called 'The Food for Thought, The Recipe for Shopping in Studley'  funded by the Government's Local Authority Business Growth Incentives (LABGI) administered by the District Council to encourage the use of local shops in Studley. The book is made up of a variety of recipes submitted by Studley residents and more importantly explaining where the ingredients can be bought in the village.

Studley Ward Member Cllr Hazel Wright says: “Both these initiatives are all about showing our pride in Studley and pulling together as a community.  Local groups made up of Studley residents have committed time and effort into putting these projects together, simply because they care about Studley."

• *A Section 106 Agreement is a legal agreement between the Planning Authority and the applicant/developer and any others that may have an interest in the land.
• Section 106 agreements are designed to help make sure new developments enhance local communities, and to reduce the impact of developments on local areas. They help to create better quality environments in, and around, new developments, which can range from improving roads and building new community facilities, to creating open spaces and improving local schools.
• Most often, the agreed actions are delivered by the developer, as part of the development. So this could see the developer creating footpath links and improving local play spaces within the new development when they are building it. However, sometimes developers pay financial contributions instead of carrying the work out themselves. This often happens when a larger project, such as a new social and community facility (e.g community or sports hall), is needed. These payments made by the developer are referred to as 'developer contributions'.
• The Schools involved are Studley High School, Studley Community Infants School, St Mary's Catholic Primary School and St Mary's C.E.  The local community groups are Studley Improvement Partnership and Studley in Bloom.