This session is the first step towards gathering the many inputs that will be needed to create the Highclere and Penwood Village Design Statement. The aim of this session is to find out what is important to people who live here. It has two main parts:
You will be part of a small group that will address one of the three tasks A, B or C. We hope to get perspectives from different parts of the village, and you will be encouraged to change groups during this session to share your views and compare notes. Each group will have a map. You might find it useful if each person jots their own thoughts down first then combine everyone's contribution onto the map.
Imagine that someone who does not know the area has come to live here. She is going for a walk and you must set out the route that she should follow, so that at the end of her walk she will have a clear and honest impression of what the village is like. Her walk should start and finish at Highclere/Penwood village hall. Draw the route on the map, but she will not take the map with her, so you will need to identify clearly the features that let her know when to change direction. Note these down on the map for future reference.
Outsiders might see the village as a single whole, but you know that it has different areas within it. Draw the boundaries of these invisible zone boundaries on your plan, and add notes explaining what these zones represent. Planners tend to use statutory boundaries like 'designated area for development', but your idea of boundaries might include busy and quiet, green or built up, edges and middles; even 'them' and 'us'! In some places the zones may overlap, so use different colours to show this.
An important aspect of villages is the diversity of different buildings and places. Mark up your map with the important landmarks of the Parish. The big ones are obvious (the castle and church for example). But smaller, more local features are just as important: for example a particular tree; a length of wall; a decorative sign, even something unique in someone's garden. You might use different colours to highlight different types of landmark.
See also Briefing Sheet No. 1, Exercise No. 2 and Report on Workshop.