PLANED bids fond farewell to Joan

Friday, 31 July 2009

Stepping down: Joan Asby, pictured receiving her OBE at Buckingham Palace in July, is retiring from PLANED.

An initiative which has secured nearly £20.5 million of funding for projects that directly benefit the people of Pembrokeshire is to lose the co-ordinator who has managed the organisation from its inception.
Joan Asby, who was awarded an OBE earlier this year for her services to the community, is retiring from the Pembrokeshire Local Action Network for Enterprise and Development (PLANED).
The initiative has its roots in the Taf and Cleddau Rural Initiative and later the South Pembrokeshire Action for Rural Communities, which Joan was appointed to lead.
It was in 1992 that the organisation was renamed PLANED when its geographical coverage extended to incorporate the whole of Pembrokeshire
Reflecting on her time at PLANED, Joan says she has gained great satisfaction from seeing the results of its involvement with communities in Pembrokeshire.
“I have seen communities doing things in a more satisfying and enterprising way because they have better facilities,’’ she said.
PLANED’s heritage work and sustainable agriculture and farm support schemes are areas that Joan will look back on with pride.
She feels that her pivotal role has been to give people and their communities aspirations.
“I was once told that PLANED raised unrealistic expectations but this isn’t true, we encourage aspiration,’’ she added.
“We have been able to access substantial sums of money for places that wouldn’t otherwise have got it. In some areas this has meant that these communities have been able to make better contributions to tourism and the wider economy.
“It has given me huge satisfaction when communities realise that help is available and the excitement and the enthusiasm that comes from it.’’
Her biggest challenges have been to negotiate the cyclical and ever changing nature of funding and retaining good staff whilst carrying out the policies that have been consulted on and agreed by the PLANED board and its partners.
“PLANED is about joined up thinking and looking at things in an integrated way. We encourage people to work as a team and I have been very careful not to lose sight of why we are here,’’ said Joan.
Joan will be succeeded by Jane Howells who is currently PLANED’s deputy co-ordinator and enterprise co-ordinator.

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