Four years ago Lavenham residents decided to undertake a study of how they view themselves as a community and how the obligations of living in an historic an increasingly sought-after environment can be reconciled with maintaining a vital and varied society.

With the publication of the Lavenham Village Design Statement the community's immediate aim has been fulfilled. A handsome, well illustrated booklet which has been distributed to every house in the village, analyses and sets out the views, concerns and aspirations expressed by the more than 60% of all Lavenham households who contributed to the long process of consultation. It will provide a valuable point of focus for everyone, whether residents or from outside, concerned with the well-being of one of the most attractive villages in England.

Wholly independent in origin, execution and funding, this remarkable grass-roots initiative has been endorsed by the Parish Council and its key aims and objectives have been adopted as formal Supplementary Planning Guidance by Babergh District Council. It is thus a document with teeth. It will strengthen the social implications of the Babergh Local Plan and highlights the urgent need to keep younger people and families in the village. The Statement is directly relevant to all future planning applications in Lavenham, whether by individuals or by industrial and housing developers.

In a world increasingly subject to centralised control and direction, the Lavenham Village Design Statement presents clearly and with authority, Lavenham's own considered view of itself. It is a document which will play a positive part in ensuring an economically viable and socially varied future for a community which has sometimes seemed in danger of being overshadowed by its past.