Judges' Comments on the entry from Buckland St. Mary.
The judges consider Buckland St. Mary Parish Council very worthy overall winners of the 2008 competition.
This is not because Buckland St. Mary Parish Council significantly outstripped any other entrant in any single competition category but because, in the judges view, the council achieved highly in all categories and had a very clear vision of what made their community effective and the disadvantages they had to overcome. The village community has imaginatively overcome disadvantages in cohesion (caused by possibly unprecedented geographical dispersal) in, reputedly, the largest (by area) parish in Somerset - where the bovine population outnumbers the parishioners by 5 to 1!. The village Post Office and Stores closed in June of this year - a blow that the community has fought fiercely and effectively to overcome by heightened activity in community planning and events. The outcome, in the judges view, is that the community of Buckland St. Mary has achieved noteworthy success in creating a well balanced, pro-active, caring, village community which has shown considerable imagination in finding the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all inhabitants. It was clear to the judges that the Parish Council played a vital and effective role in enabling community organisations to achieve their best potential in serving the community in its essential aspects of People, Environment, Business and Communications. The judges found integration of the spiritual and secular, youth and the elderly, education and leisure, natural world interests and built environment, established businesses and new starts, informal and more formal business provision and technical and direct person to person communication within the community so high as to be truly exceptional. However, this does not detract from a clear community ambition to serve a wider community than provided by parishioners in Buckland St. Mary. There was no hint of insularity in seeking a balanced pro-active village community nor a shortage of volunteers providing a wide range of premises for village events catering for this wider Somerset community. Of further note was the high level of village activities per capita and progress in achieving more affordable housing.
Buckland St. Mary has achieved significant success in coping with recent unprecedented changes in agricultural practices and fortunes. The parish provides a very worthy model of success in rural business diversification and all people moving to the parish are clearly encouraged to feel welcome.
Whilst clearly innovative, the community of Buckland St. Mary continue to draw on a reservoir of strong and very valued tradition and the judges discerned a determination to maintain the success of long standing events and cheerfully (and sometimes heroically) strive to maintain the built fabric of this beacon Somerset community.