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Echo in Transition 31 Mar 2010 Expect some changes in future issues of your Parish Council newsletter, following a reader survey and wider discussions.

Expect some changes in future issues of your Parish Council newsletter Eynsham Echo, following a reader survey and discussions with the producers of other newsletters, both within the parish (The Roundabout) and outside. These have raised useful points and suggested some scope for rationalisation.

Frequency & distribution: the Echo is delivered free to every house in the village 6 times a year. The Roundabout is delivered free to every house 3 times a year (and on sale at other times). Under current schedules all 1,887 householders are receiving two newsletters in April and December.

Content: the Echo and the Roundabout both include press releases from clubs and community organisations. The Roundabout has several more pages and gives them more space. However, the Parish Council also makes provision for community information through the village notice boards, the website and a monthly email Bulletin - also posted on notice boards for non-users of the internet.

Funding: the Echo is funded from your Council Tax at an annual cost of £1.38 per household, or 23p per issue - which pays for both printing and deliveries. The Roundabout is funded by advertising and subscription (35p) but delivered by volunteers.

Outcome: the Communications Committee meeting on 22 March resolved:

“to retain The Echo as a separate publication, to produce it four or five times a year, but to be flexible in producing additional editions if necessary. The Echo would give more detailed reporting of issues that are likely to be of high concern to the village; and include community notices only if space were available. More general information could be covered on the parish notice boards and in the monthly Bulletin. The publication of The Echo could be rescheduled to avoid the times when the Roundabout is issued free of charge.”

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the reader survey. Even if the outcome is not quite what you wanted, we hope that the reasoning is clear. People who supplied contact details are receiving individual replies and several suggestions are under active consideration.

The survey closed on 31 March and results appear below - though feedback is still welcome at any time.

ECHO READER SURVEY (29 responses)

QUESTION YES NO
1 Do you find the Echo informative and up to date? 25 1
2 Would you prefer fewer issues (say 4 a year) and more pages? 1 28
3 Would you like issues / alerts via email, as well as - or instead of - printed copies? 8 19

4. Comments and suggestions:

  • a letters page
  • a children's corner
  • regular slot on school news
  • film schedules for the Village Hall
  • longer entries on local organisations
  • why have you dropped births, deaths & marriages? The Roundabout has a corner for brief notices; the website has extended profiles and obituaries.
  • why do we bother to separate our recycling? See feature in the latest Echo