About The Vision Group

 

‘Vision for the Future’ and a group to champion it, was first presented at the annual Town Assembly Meeting of May 2005 by the Rev Handel Bennett, Chair of the Sid Vale Association.

As a result, about twenty local residents gathered at the Town Hall to set up the Vision Group for Sidmouth under the guidance of Ann Liverton, Chair of the Town Council at the time. Under the chairmanship of Alan Darrant, also Secretary of the SVA, the founding objectives were established:

• to mobilise the community to express its concerns and aspirations for the future of Sidmouth
• to create a concrete plan to be presented to and recognised by the District Council
• to provide a focus for local people and organisations to take up particular issues and pursue them to implementation.

 

Now, the VGS (Vision Group for Sidmouth) is moving towards an organisation with three streams -

1. Groups - collectives of engaged individuals aiming to deliver within a subject area such as planning, energy etc.

2. Projects - well defined deliverables with a clear timescale for achievement

3. Initiatives - incubating ideas or themes which may aspire to achieve but not sufficiently defined to be project or are outside a Group subject area. These may or may not come to fruition.

 

The current groups comprise Energy (SVEAG) aimed at energy conservation and non-fossil alternatives, Food - running the Community Market monthly at St John Hall and encouraging a garden sharing, Futures forum focusing on Planning issues, Traffic and transport working on a local survey and incubating potential solutions to the traffic and access issues in town.  There are also other initiatives such as Cycling (working with Sustrans), Trees (independent initiative working to increase biodiversity in the Byes, Youth (various initiatives over the years working with local contacts).  VGS is also working to organise a Science Festival in Sidmouth in October 2012.