Clyst St Mary & Sowton Villages

Bishop’s Clyst Parish Council Community Plan 2006

Findings from the

Community Questionnaire

In 2004 the Parish Council decided to create a Parish Plan as recommended by East Devon District Council. This was an excellent opportunity to enable the residents and local businesses to comment on current issues and put forward their views on how they would like the Parish to develop in the future.

This report is presented in two parts:

§ Issues for Consideration by the Parish Council based on Findings from the Questionnaire and Informal Discussions with Residents

§ Summary of Findings from the Questionnaire

The Parish Council is currently reviewing the findings and issues raised by the questionnaire prior to holding a Public Meeting to present a response and elicit views on other aspects of Parish Council business. Following this meeting the Council will prepare a final Parish Plan that will be made available to all Parishioners and East Devon District Council.

Issues for Consideration by the Parish Council based on findings from the Survey and informal discussions with residents

¨ Review the Long Term Plan for housing development within the Parish paying particular regard to low cost affordable starter housing / small family homes and in particular, small groups of houses, not estates.

¨ Help to promote the local school

¨ Review the whole issue of parking in and around the centre of Clyst St Mary village

¨ Contact local highways to explore the whole traffic management scheme around the Parish to make access out of different areas safer and easier to use

¨ Create a localised car sharing scheme, perhaps through a website

¨ Campaign for cycle paths to be installed around the Parish

¨ Investigate further the bus services that run through Clyst St Mary with a view to creating better links with Topsham and Exmouth.

¨ Work with Local Highways to explore the possibilities of slowing traffic down within the Parish where noise and travel safety are an issue.

¨ Consider links through a website and local businesses regarding employment opportunities, networking etc

¨ Work with the Police Force to raise the profile of local policing with the local residents and businesses

¨ Investigate the possibilities of establishing local recycling facilities and contact East Devon DC to see whether there are plans afoot to increase the range of materials collected

¨ Investigate the problems of Roadside Cleaning, Drainage, Car Parking and Hedge/Verge maintenance and rubbish bins that are allowed to become over full on a regular basis.

¨ Increase publicity for local activities and groups and perhaps consider increasing opportunities for local events / activities e.g. youth club

¨ Explore ways in which communication can be improved in and around the Parish regarding activities, decisions, issues causing concern, good ideas etc

¨ Consider whether there are ways in which the local churches could encourage a wider age range of people to attend to ensure the sustainability of local village Churches as places of Sunday worship

¨ Organise Spring Clean/ Environmental / Wildlife Days

¨ Install more Dog Mess Bins in appropriate locations

¨ Continually evaluate the access of our local area and it’s footpaths working in conjunction with local land owners

¨ Consider disabled access around the Parish

¨ Develop greater social links between the two villages of Clyst St Mary and Sowton

In the Spring of 2005 questionnaires were distributed to all households in the Parish. Out of 542 sent out 260 completed questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 48%. All the analysis carried out on the data is using the information from the returned questionnaires. On some questionnaires not all the questions were answered or in the personal section, in some cases, only two out of 4 people responded to some questions. The percentages given are based on the number of people answering specific questions.

The majority of respondents suggested that results from the survey should be summarised and sent as an information sheet to every household. This information will also be published on a newly formed Clyst St Mary and Sowton Website, posted on the Parish Display Boards and summarised within the Parish magazine.

There is a fairly even spread of age range within our community based on the returned questionnaires. A quarter of the population is of retirement age of 65 and just under a quarter are aged under 18.There is a fairly even split between Male and Female within the Parish.

The length of time that people have lived in the Parish takes on a fairly normal distribution with the largest cohort being resident for between 6 and 15 years.

7% of the respondents are registered disabled. The Cat and Fiddle Park returned the lowest percentage of forms perhaps due to the nature and length of the questionnaire. It therefore could be assumed that the actual percentage of registered disabled may be higher than 7%. This statistic is worth considering with regard to access and provision for disabled around the Parish.

Only 3% of housing occupied by respondents is Local Authority / Housing Association Rented and with very low turnover of private housing stock population movement is very low. 4% of respondents were in need of alternative accommodation and a very small percentage have moved from the Parish in the last 5 years due to lack of suitable / affordable housing although to produce a more accurate picture we would need to survey people who were resident in the last 5 years but no longer live in the Parish - a near impossible task!

A majority of respondents were in favour of no further development but there is a recognition that the Community should look at provision of affordable housing for young people and small family homes.

With a Primary School accommodating approx. 145 pupils and only 48 living within the Parish based on returned forms a large percentage of pupils come from areas outside the Parish indicating the popularity of the local school. The nearest school for Sowton residents is Clyst Honiton Primary School as access from Sowton to Clyst St Mary is not as convenient. Clyst Vale Community College at Broadclyst is the High school to which the majority of local pupils aged 11 to 18 attends although others attend Private Schools or other State High Schools within Exeter and East Devon.

Parking - 85% of all cars are kept on driveways or in garages with only 12.5% being kept on the road. One key issue that was raised within the responses was the problems incurred by visiting vehicles around Clyst St Mary Village shop causing considerable congestion at various times throughout the day. Parking is a real issue within the village of Sowton particularly when the village hall is in use. Residents suggested the availability of resident parking in public car parks which would reduce on street parking. Concerns were raised over parking on residential roads by Local Employees and visitors to Westpoint and on grass verges on Winslade Park. Parking in Manor Park was felt to be a major issue

Access from Residential Areas - Nearly three-quarters of respondents stated that they experienced occasional or regular difficulties in getting out of residential areas due to the proximity of major roads. The roundabout at the entrance to the village can be a real problem particularly at rush hour; some residents have suggested traffic lights for peak times.

Car Sharing Scheme - 13% of respondents were keen to become involved in a private car sharing scheme and this could be an area to be explored on a very local basis.

Cycle Paths - The Parish currently has no facilities for encouraging the use of cycles e.g. cycle paths and cycling within the Parish is not a safe activity on the roads except perhaps within Winslade Park or the Cat and Fiddle Park. Nearly 50% of respondents are keen to make use of cycle paths should they be constructed.

Bus Service - A significant number of respondents use scheduled and the nearby park and ride bus services. However, comment was made that there is no direct bus service to Topsham, the local town to Bishop’s Clyst Parish. This is necessary to access doctor’s surgery, chemists, banks and other services. The only bus stop accessible for Sowton is a considerable distance form the village. Other comments regarding the bus service were issues of high cost, unreliability and unhelpfulness of the drivers.

Speeding - Two-Thirds of respondents felt that speeding was an issue within the Parish and extension/reduction of speed limits and flashing warning signs would be particularly appropriate. Sowton currently has no speed limit and residents are suggesting a maximum 20mph. Many respondents are requesting a one-way system through the village of Clyst St Mary.

With nearly 10% of respondents being self-employed and nearly 40% being retired there could be opportunities within the Parish for networking and contacts through a common forum such as a website to extend links both socially and from a business point of view. Whilst unemployment is low at 1%, twenty people were currently looking for employment and through links with business, again through a website, there may be opportunities for local employment.

There are a large number of businesses within the Parish employing many staff. Local employers have identified a willingness to develop closer links with the local community.

This is an area that raised a number of concerns, those being that there needed to be a much greater involvement of community policing within the Parish and that there was a lack of knowledge regarding Neighbourhood Watch Schemes and whether they were in existence in the area.

Vandalism is still a cause for concern at Clyst St Mary Village Hall and suggestions for CCTV to be installed were made to increase security.

Services that were deemed to be of concern were Roadside Cleaning, Surface Water Drainage, Agricultural Drainage, Recycling, Car Parking (lack of) Roadside verge maintenance and Hedge Maintenance. Flooding of the one access road to Sowton is raised as a concern.

Recycling is a major concern with many items not being collected by East Devon District Council. There was a significant majority of respondents who would use recycling banks if they were suitably positioned.

All the facilities currently within the Parish identified within the questionnaire were all deemed to be important. Only a quarter of respondents believed a community facility for accessing the internet was necessary, presumably because so many households now have access to the internet.

The local shop in Clyst St Mary was deemed important by over 90% of the respondents with varying responses as to why it was important.

Suggestions for useful village amenities included a doctor’s surgery and an NHS Dentist. (A weekly doctor’s surgery has existed in Clyst St Mary Village Hall in the past.)

A surprising number of respondents are not aware of the Multi-Sports Area available by Clyst St Mary village hall. There could be more explicit advertising of groups that meet within the local Parish.

Local Social facilities for all ages were an issue although about one third of each age group expressed no opinion on the matter. Lack of activities for young and retired people was raised as an issue.

Many activities were suggested with top of the list being an over 60s club and Youth Club. Other suggestions included a skate park, arts and crafts activities, more amateur dramatics and a ramblers club.

The Parish magazine is clearly the most effective form of communication with residents with over three-quarters of respondents stating that they read this publication regularly. The Parish Notice boards are not read as regularly and perhaps these could be updated to include a wider variety of information linked to social activities.

Information regarding what is going on within the Parish could be better and could be linked to the Parish Magazine and the notice boards.

With such a small percentage of residents attending Parish Council Meetings could there be a way of increasing the involvement of local people in local issues?

The Church is clearly viewed by a majority of respondents as an important part of the local Parish scene although attendance is low compared to the number of residents. The level of attendance by local parishioners is low except for the major Christian festivals. Perhaps a wider age range could be catered for within the current organization of the church services perhaps offering occasional family services. Another suggestion raised the issue of more frequent services at Sowton church.

The local landscape and fabric of our environment were deemed to be of high importance by respondents and there is a significant percentage of people willing to help with protecting wildlife, surveying trees, maintaining footpaths and general tidying of public areas. There was some enthusiasm for having “Spring Clean” days and even entering Best Kept Village competitions. Other suggestions included regular emptying of the rubbish bins to prevent overflow, smartening up the villages with flower displays, removal of overhead cables, street lighting in Sowton, reduced signage, improved maintenance of shrubs on Clyst St Mary Roundabout and banning bonfires.

Noise from traffic on the main roads is viewed adversely and perhaps can be linked to the speed of traffic particularly around the Clyst St Mary roundabout where vehicles are accelerating heavily onto the Sidmouth and Exmouth roads. Noise from the M5 motorway was noted by nearly a quarter of residents.

Many concerns were expressed regarding potential relocation of the Speedway to Westpoint which would result in additional noise on a regular basis. Sowton residents were particularly concerned at the lack of restrictions on flying times at the airport and would like no flights between midnight and 6a.m.

Respondents were keen to see the number of “Dogs’ Mess” Bins being installed in a variety of locations to encourage responsible dog ownership and make walking the dogs more pleasurable.

Some difficulties were experienced when using local footpaths and this is perhaps an area that could be explored further ensuring there is good access for all members of our community. Improvements to disabled access included requests for a pelican crossing over the main A3052 as the bridge is difficult to use, better pavements, more disabled parking ensuring that everywhere was accessible by wheelchair.

Listed below is a sample of comments made by respondents in addition to ones included above:

¨ Local communities must resist government directions that do not reflect the wishes of the local community

¨ Rebuild school next to village hall and use old school for affordable housing

Thank you to all residents who took the time to complete the questionnaire. We appreciate that the questionnaire was quite lengthy but perhaps provoked discussion within your household. It has taken a long time to collate the information, analyse it and present the findings in a format that is readable and useful and we say a big thank you to the Community Plan Committee for the many hours spent in meetings, delivering and collecting and the huge task of data inputting.

By the time you read this leaflet the Parish Council will have met to discuss the findings and a range of recommendations for action proposed by the Community Plan Committee, and will now be preparing for a meeting with all Parishioners to discuss any matters arising from this survey and any other matters that residents would like to raise.

After that meeting the Parish Council will compile a final Parish Community Plan that will be available for all residents to view in a variety of forms. This Plan will be sent to East Devon District Council to help inform long-term plans for the district.