Botley Parish Council Strategy Day – October 2025
With thanks to Cllr Chris Cooper, chair of Botley Parish Council, for this narrative of the Botley Parish Council strategy day, held on 12th October 2025 at Meon Springs, hosted and facilitated by Jamie Butler.
Attendees:
- Eight councillors: Chris, Sue, Dave, Janine, Hayley, Jamie, Tom, Russ.
- Three staff: Dave, Kat, James
Why we had a strategy day?
The reasons for having a strategy day were multiple. There was deemed to be a lack of purpose and direction for the council. Can we answer these questions with confidence and with one voice? What are we doing? What are we for? Are we ready for the changes about to be bestowed on us?
Some highlights as to why this was the case can be found here: The changing of the guard (a new chair and new clerk); new councillors coming in from May 2027 and a doubling of the size of the parish staff since April 2024. This growth is due to taking on more responsibilities because of the new housing developments, (e.g. Boorley Green Community Centre). Additionally, Local Government Reform giving Botley Parish an opportunity to do more in our patch via the asset transfers coming from Eastleigh Borough Council through from now until mid 2027. Alongside, a need to build trust between us as a team, (both within the respective councillors/staff grouping; as well as between councillors and staff). This is so we acted as one team rather than independents. Whilst retaining our individual independence and still being our worst critics.
As chair of the parish council, I took on the responsibility of finding a suitable outcome for what we meant by having a strategy day. The day we eventually had took almost a year of planning. But the conversation started in my first year of being chair of Botley Parish Council in 2023. This day has been a long time coming and overall, the benefits it has generated were well worth the effort.
The Venue
I chose Meon Springs as it ticked all the necessary boxes. Which were:
- A location outside Botley – so we could be outside our normal environment, which would:
a) keep us there.
b) encourage us to think & do different.
- Meon Springs is a 30-minute drive from Botley, nestled in a hidden valley between West & East Meon in the beautiful South Downs National Park.
- A flexible day of conversation, learning and fun.
- Jamie broke the day down into three elements that would deliver on our requirements.
- We needed to leave any session thinking and promising to do different.
- Jamie has a track record both in his own farming business and with his clients of enabling this change.
We were hosted by Jamie and his team including Stacey, Greg, and Robin in the Long Barn for the morning sessions Then moved into the outside activities area after lunch.
What we learnt
I am pleased to say the day delivered across several learning points.
1. Stacey gave us an ice breaker where we got to know a little bit more about each other.
2. Then Jamie got us to define what we wanted Botley to be. The team came up with a new high-level statement of purpose. Our vision for Botley:
By 2036, Botley is a place that everyone wants to call home
3. The fallout of this agreement on our vision, is we have identified a gap between what we are doing today versus realising this the stated purpose. So have taken away a task to review our projects. We can then realign our efforts to deliver on that vision. Jamie also gave us some techniques to help us prioritise and organise ourselves. Sharing his learnings from managing a diversified farm.
4. We have agreed to communicate better. Greg led us on a practical and fun game looking at harvest time on the farm. The result was a missed harvest for my team. However, the learning was immensely powerful. Communication is critical. Having access to as much information as possible is key to success.
5. We also became more respectful via the Ubuntu Wisdom Circle, in a session led by Robin. Simply by having a prop to control who spoke and letting silence motivate people to speak, allowed for a respectful, insightful and uplifting session. Plus, learnt a lesson on not being so hard on us. Less self-critical. We are doing good. Remember this.
Alongside a tour of the dairy farm, where we met some 4-week-old calves, a cracking lunch and Tom being allowed to throw various axes at the end of the day.
In Summary
To summarise the day, and whether it was a success, I offer the drive back in the minibus as positive evidence. The chatter was incessant, the vibe was exuberant, confident and empowered. The team were listening to each other and plotting plans for the future.
Another good indicator of success is the team want to repeat the exercise but include all the parish team. So, we hope in 2026 to have 12 councillors and 11 (possibly up to 12 staff). Next time though we will have a different focus. Let the planning begin.
From a personal perspective I am really pleased. The team bonded, the vision was settled, and we have more focused work to do. Jamie and his team at Meon Springs delivered a cracking day. A thank you from us all to Jamie and his crew.
Thank you, team, for your support to make the strategy day happen. Thank you for your participation on the day too making it the successful day it turned out to be.
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