A Parish Plan is a document that sets out the community’s issues, needs and aspirations for the next four or five years. It is a project involving the whole community supported by the Parish Council. Parish councillors need to know what the community wants so that they can understand what is missing from the village and how many people would use any new facilities.
A Parish Plan helps service providers to plan how to deliver services better. It can be used to help higher levels of government understand rural needs. It can help funding organisations by providing evidence of which communities and local groups need their money and why they need it.
In February 2008 a questionnaire was distributed to every household in the village to gather data for a plan to cover the period 2008 to 2012.
When the results have been collated the Plan will be submitted to the Parish Council for approval and then published. In the meantime here is a summary of the results.
Five Minute Summary
Introduction.
During February the Parish Plan Workgroup distributed survey forms to every household in Great Addington. Thank you all for the time and trouble taken to complete the questionnaires and have them ready for collection. From a village of 100 houses and 263 electors the returned forms represent 179 adults (68%) from 83 households (80+%). Compared with other villages conducting similar surveys that is an above average result. Not all respondents answered every question. The results listed here are given as a proportion of the total answers for the relevant questions. This summary presents the major points from each of the questionnaire’s ten sections. A full report with recommendations for action by various village organisations will be published in due course.
The Parish.
The age distribution of the 179 respondents is shown here.
Approximately 50% have lived in the village for over 15 years and a further 25% for between 6 and 15 years. The most liked aspect of the village is the rural setting and the most disliked is the volume and speed of traffic.
Education.
Approximately 30% of respondents have children of pre-school or school age. Pre-school provisions in the village appear to be adequate. A majority of parents would appreciate more after school/holiday activities for children. Eighty seven respondents would be in favour of moving the school to the Addingtons’ Playing Field, with thirty two opposing.
Environment.
Most respondents think that tidy verges and hedgerows are the best way to promote the village’s environmental image, with well kept gardens placed second. Public footpaths are used by the majority of residents and dog fouling is the predominant issue.
Housing.
The majority of respondents support village growth of between 0% and 10%. Mixed infill developments (including family and affordable homes) with houses of similar character to the existing stock would be preferred. Support services are inadequate for the present population. They would need to be improved if the village grows.
Communication & Information
“Saints Alive” is the most used means of finding out what’s on in the village. The telephone kiosk and mobile library are little used.
Parish Council.
102 out of 126 respondents approved the statement “The parish council’s first priority is to provide services which the community wants”. A total of 55 are “totally” or “quite” satisfied with the way that the Parish Council currently uses the parish precept, compared with 12 who are “dissatisfied” and 53 who “don’t know”. The Parish Council is thought to be a poor communicator.
Public Transport & Highways.
There is support for all forms of traffic calming. Sixty three respondents specifically support volunteer groups trained to use hand held speed cameras. Street parking is seen as a major hazard, particularly at school start/finish times.
Retail & Other Services
The majority of the population use the local Post Offices less than once per week. The standard of water supply and refuse collection score highly, but verge maintenance and winter gritting are thought to be below par.
Security.
Security does not appear to be a major issue. A majority feel police coverage is poor and less than 50% know the telephone number of the local police office.
Sport Social & Entertainment.
Maintenance of the Addingtons’ Playing Field is considered reasonable. 5% of respondents rate the facilities as good. 75% would use the Field more frequently if facilities were improved.
Parish Plan Workgroup
25th March 2008
