THE first ever community fun day in Mitcheldean brought in the crowds and the weather was (mostly) kind, but behind the scenes, it was the beginning of the launch of what is proposed as a plan for the future of the Forest's largest village.

The fun day, supported by local stalls, Mitchel­dean Sports Club, the Welcome Club and backed by the notes of Pillowell Silver Band, was also a launch of what's proposed to be a 'parish plan' for the village.

Cllr Andrew Maliphant said: "Volunteers sporting 'Action in Mitcheldean' T-shirts asked people what they liked or didn't like about the village, and what they would like to see improved.

"The aim is to agree between ourselves what we might want to do to improve Mitcheldean. Supporting the community centre and the library came top of the list, but there are many other issues to consider. I'd certainly support the idea of making sure that the village and the industrial estate are more closely connected, so that we know about the vacancies coming up and about what businesses are operating in the estate. We need to be more closely linked."

Cllr Maliphant added: "The next step will be to collate all the views taken at the fun day into a questionnaire to confirm which projects the village see as priorities – some of these projects are already being pursued."

It is understood the questionnaire will go out, in due course, to the 900 households (3,000 residents) in Mitcheldean.

Meantime there will be a follow-up meeting at Mitcheldean Town Hall on September 16 from 2pm all are welcome. It is proposed that a formal action plan for the village is prepared for next April.

To find out more, Cllr Andrew Maliphant is on 01594 544456.