Survey Pointers

 by Tony Marsh

The results of the Community Survey were published on 17th October 2010.  They can be downloaded here.  In this article, each of the significant bars in all the bar charts have been converted into a positive "pointer statement" along with a reference to the question number from the original survey.  The statements have been rendered totally positive (to emphasise their existence within the results) and they have been re-ordered and combined logically, where appropriate.  This ordered list could be the starting point of a Community Plan - it will be interesting to see what is eventually published.

4,7 A Transport issue:  71 of village children go to the primary school (out of  ? there).
                             74 other children go to schools outside the village.
Transport and Parking:  there are 929 cars/vans, 45 motorbikes and 16 other vehicles.
                                        To get to work 749 of these vehicles are used; otherwise 95 people use a bus.
14 A job vacancy board would be useful.
18 A great majority consider the village would be put under strain with more housing.
Any housing added should be in small groups.
20,22 Major provisions:
We need a nursing home.
We need sheltered housing incl. suitable for people with disabilities.
We need more shops - bakery and local produce mentioned.
We should commercially "develop" the canal margin.
24 We should improve the security of our own houses.
24,26,38,41 Youth issues:  
Better manners and a better attitude to vandalism and drugs is required (a family issue?)
We need more activities for young people eg: choir, creative arts and drama group for the young also a children's holidays workshop.  (Note: It is arguably mainly a family issue that too many children get bored easily)
26,31,56 Parish Council:
We need more street lighting, better maintained pavements, more litter bins and dog-foul units.
27,29 Traffic:
All the "thru" roads carry excessive speed (excl. Station Road).
Congestion at peak times combined with many parked cars.
Many other issues were suggested by the survey and responded to.
30,31 Major traffic issues:
Drop off and pick up for the school could be better organised but we have no "obvious cure" - some other car park would be welcome.  Note that only some of the 71 village children that go to this school need dropping off by car; most of the respondents in this survey have a problem with the congestion without being a participant.
Highways Design:
suggested improvements to pavements, lighting, road crossing, cycle paths etc.
36,38,39,41 Sports clubs:
Many new activities ticked - perhaps we need new building(s), tennis court, biking track.
We need a youth club, better village hall maybe, better scout hut, and a public toilet.
Other clubs:
Music, drama, computers, gardening. We could run guided walks around both village and countryside and we could organise village "Spring Clean" days. 
40,47,55 Some thought that getting to village venues was difficult, for various reasons - and parking was thought not convenient enough.
The playing fields area was thought to be difficult to access and perhaps not safe.
Hearing about events would be improved with a monthly R&A and/or a notice board.
51,52,54 Village Improvements:
Suggestions were festivals, having more flowers etc., more street seating, tidier shop fronts and repaired stone walls, the demolition of old buildings, building a museum heritage centre.  Also more trees, establish hedges and keep them tidy, actively maintain woodland esp. by canal, clean up and/or relay the towpath
54,55 Countryside improvements:
Let's repair gates and styles, have roadside verges mown more often, make footpaths more accessible and signpost them, negotiate with landowners to open more footpaths, publish maps and guides.