Hardington Mandeville

PARISH PLAN - SUMMARY REPORT

RESULTS OF THE PARISH PLAN QUESTIONNAIRE CONDUCTED OCTOBER 2007

Parish Plan Steering Group:

• David Beckley
• Peter Bysouth
• Robin Carpenter
• Jonathan Chadwick
• David Cleaton (Chair)
• Daphne Creed
• Nick Lunt (Treasurer)
• John Mitchell
• Stewart Ogden (Secretary)
• Elaine Peters
• Sue Phillips

GENERAL

Question 1

How many people including children usually live in your household?

1 person	18 households	10%
2 people	91 households	52%
3 people	22 households	13%
4 people	26 households	15%
5 people	10 households	6%
6 people	2 households	2%

Information not given on 4 questionnaires (2%)

 

Question 2

Please enter the number of people in your household in each age group:

Age Range	Male	Female	Total	Percentage
Under 5	11	3	14	3
5 - 15	19	22	41	10
16 - 24	26	21	47	11
25 - 44	24	30	54	13
45 - 60	51	69	120	28
61 - 80	75	56	131	31
81 years or older	8	8	16	4
Totals	214	209	423

 

Question 3

Do you own the house you live in or are you a tenant?

	Number	Percentage
Owner	159	91
Tenant	11	6

 

Question 4

How long have you lived in the village?

	Number	Percentage
Less than 1 year	21	5
1 - 5 years	81	19
6 - 10 years	52	13
11 -15 years	46	11
More than 15 years	216	52

 

Question 5

We would like to know how many general vehicles there are in the parish.
Cars per household:

Number of cars	Number of Households	Percentage
0	3	2
1	54	31
2	86	50
3	17	10
4	7	4
5	5	3
6	1	1

 

Vans per household:

Number of vans	Number of Households
1	21
2	2
3	1

 

Question 6

What is the main reason you came to live in Hardington?

	Number of residents
Always lived here	106
To work in the area	93
To retire	38
For a better environment for the children	57
To be near/with family	57
It is an attractive village	125
Other - main reasons: To get married Suitable property for needs To be where grew up	49

 

Question 7

Do you experience transport difficulties in getting out of Hardington to other places?

	Number of people	Percentage
Often	12	3
Occasionally	81	20
Never	305	77

 

Question 8

Do you:

	Number of people
Work in the parish?	31
Work out of the parish?	163
Work at home?	36
Retired?	126
Student?	51

 

Question 9

Do you use the village website?

	Number of people	Percentage
Regularly	13	3
Occasionally	103	26
Never	278	71

 

Summary of comments:

Reasons for using the website:

• Keeping up with events/photos/Parish Council/refuse and recycling dates/local services/WI
• Useful for opening times of PO as not on display in shop

Comments about the website:

• A super useful site. Did not know it existed until I saw this questionnaire
• Did not know it existed
• Information about the site needed in The Messenger
• Impressed with design, information and layout of the site

Comments about what people would like:

• Messenger on line (as well as paper version)
• Mike Bickerton’s monthly nature notes
• Details of local facilities, e.g. pubs, PO, B & Bs in area
• Better footpath map
• Information about pre-school
• History of village/photos etc
• Forum for comments/discussion
• More local business websites
• Rev Terrell to develop a benefice website and link created

Reasons for not using the website:

• Didn’t know there was one
• No computer/ internet access
• Not everyone agrees with the world wide web

 

Question 10

Do you find it easy to know what is happening in the village?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	362	94
No	24	6

 

Question 11

Where do you usually get information about what is going on in Hardington?

	Number
Shop	208
Parish Notice Board	94
Posters	93
Word of mouth	242
Hardington website	36
Messenger	336
Church News	50
Pub	96
Other - included: Parish Council meetings and the banner	7

 

Question 12

Are you aware of the Nippy Bus service?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	374	96
No	17	4

 

Question 13

How often do you use the Nippy Bus?

	Number of people	Percentage
Regularly	12	3
Occasionally	45	12
Never	334	85

 

Question 14

Reasons stated for not using the Nippy Bus

• Overwhelmingly people use their own transport (cars) or walk.
• No information/not sure how it works, stops, timetable, etc/didn’t know about it were typical responses.
• Some responses were about disability and/or not yet 60 so have to pay.
• Other comments included not convenient for work hours/time in Yeovil/ pre- booking/ takes too long/ long walk home with shopping.
• Doesn’t come to Hardington Marsh.

 

Question 15

Would your household be interested in a bulk purchase scheme for domestic oil?

	Number	Percentage
Yes	85	51
No	53	32
Already participate in a scheme	29	17

 

HOUSING

Question 16

How do you feel about more houses being built in Hardington?

	Number	Percentage
Do not want it	121	31
Would welcome limited development	218	56
Would welcome substantial development	None	0
No opinion	47	12

 

Question 17

If houses were to be built, what kind of accommodation should be provided?

	Number of people
Homes for young people	165
Homes for elderly people	45
Larger family homes	16
Small family homes	101
No further homes are needed	61
Affordable housing	136
Sheltered accommodation	34
Other	3

 

Question 18

If there is affordable housing, should priority be given to:
People who have a link with Hardington?

	Number	Percentage
Yes	345	93
No	26	7

 

Anyone from Hardington or adjoining parishes according to their housing needs?

	Number	Percentage
Yes	200	64
No	112	36

 

Question 19

If there was to be affordable housing subject to appropriate planning permission, where do you think affordable housing should be? (Please tick as many as you wish)

	Number
Mandeville	62
Moor	47
Hill End	50
Coker Hill	32
Marsh	46
Lyatts	51
Other	15

Summary of comments for Questions 17 - 19

• Any housing should be of high quality and in keeping with the character of the village.
• Build where land is available, but preferably near amenities and integrated throughout the village.
• Priority is for housing for local young people, small family homes and for older residents wishing to ‘downsize’, but remain in the village.
• Village infrastructure cannot support/sustain increase in housing; build in Yeovil or West Coker.

VILLAGE HALL

Question 20

How often do you use the village hall? Please put a tick for each member of the household.

	Number of people	Percentage
More than 15 times a year	59	14
5 - 15 times a year	67	16
Up to 5 times a year	202	49
Never	81	20

 

Question 21

Parking is limited around the hall. To what extent do you see this as a problem?

	Number of people	Percentage
Not at all	153	42
Somewhat	154	42
A great deal	61	17

 

Question 22

Have you ever chosen to use another venue when you could have used the village hall?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	70	19
No	299	81

Reasons given: too small with limited facilities (kitchen and toilet), lack of ambiance, difficult parking, no bar.

 

Question 23

Which of the following options for developing the Village Hall would you prefer, assuming funding could be obtained?

	Number of people	Percentage
Refurbish the existing hall	113	34
Retain and refurbish the existing hall and extend it to include additional meeting rooms, storage space and other facilities.	154	46
Completely rebuild the hall to modern standards on the same site.	32	10
Completely rebuild the hall to modern standards on a different site.	37	11

 

Question 24

What facilities would you like to see provided at the Village Hall? (Responses see below)

 

Question 25

Would be willing to help towards fundraising and management of a village hall development project?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	66	22
No	240	78

Summary of Comments: Questions 23 - 25 Village Hall

• New hall not a priority/no need for anything bigger/OK as it is/perfectly adequate as long as repairs are kept up/leave it as it is/it just needs refurbishing.
• Extend and improve facilities, but keep façade as it is.
• Reconfigure the site to improve facilities, particularly parking, meeting rooms, changing and storage, kitchen and toilets.
• Needs to be larger with more indoor sports and recreation facilities including an outdoor area.
• Sell site and use the money to build a new village hall more like East Coker Need for a business/development plan for the hall.
• Suggestions for facilities included:
  Sound proofing, storage space, changing rooms, multi-use small rooms, improved kitchen and toilets, big screen for films, improved lighting, PA system, telephone/internet (wifi), recycling facilities for card/plastic.
• Suggestions for use on regular basis included:
  Movie/film club, music events, internet café, indoor sports/games, monthly whist drives/bingo, small branch library, youth club.

 

COMMUNITY SAFETY

Question 26

Should the Parish lobby for a speed limit to be introduced?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	203	50
No	179	44
Don’t know	22	6

 

Question 27

Should there be mobile electronic speed indicators placed in the village?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	76	20
No	269	72
Don’t know	27	7

 

Question 28

Should there be traffic calming devices placed around the village?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	69	25
No	193	69
Don’t know	18	6

 

Question 29

Should friendly message signs be placed around the village?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	198	53
No	166	46
Don’t know	9	2

 

Question 30

Should there be a self-regulating community scheme in the parish? For example, all residents to sign up to a scheme to drive with care?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	110	40
No	127	47
Don’t know	35	13

 

Question 31

Should there be double yellow lines around the church and the village hall?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	40	11
No	324	87
Don’t know	9	2

Summary of Comments: Questions 26 - 31 Speeding and Road Safety

• Introduce a 20/30 mph speed limit, but no abundance of signs/need to police a speed limit/speedsters are usually residents/all Somerset villages to have a 20mph speed limit/remove de-restriction signs at junction with A30/educate (young) drivers/might mean street lights and more signs.
• Speeding is not a problem/the lanes restrict speed/speed limit will make no difference to those who speed/traffic calming would be better/how about signs at corners and bends?
• Indicators will destroy look of village/not suitable or required/no street furniture/indicators meaningless if no speed limit/waste of money/good idea- people take notice of these.
• Anything as long as it slows vehicles/traffic calming only if in keeping with the village/white lines down the middle of the road at bends.
• Not speed bumps/bumps are a nightmare and will cause more slurry to drop/difficult for transporting cattle, horses, etc./ would spoil look of the village.
• Don’t think signs will make any difference. There are those who care and those who don’t/perhaps on village signs/only ‘Hardington welcome careful drivers’/maybe ‘slow’ signs at bends/warning signs about dogs, horses, cattle, children, etc./more road signs are just litter.
• A self-regulatory scheme wont make any difference/could be worth a try/only people who drive with care will sign up/impossible to enforce-what sanctions?/totally unacceptable.
• Parking around church and village hall is particularly dangerous/the current system assists traffic calming/caution signs needed/yellow lines around the village hall/no yellow lines anywhere/village does not need traffic calming or yellow lines-needs drivers to be considerate.

 

Question 32

Should the parish do anything to change road safety concerns or issues?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	145	49
No	117	40
Don’t know	33	11

Summary of comment:

• The Parish Council should be more pro-active, e.g. put statements in The Messenger about speeding and parking, etc./condition of roads- potholes, mud, hedges cut back/what are other villages doing/ What about a ‘speeding committee/ These issues need careful consideration.
• Local residents should set an example/more should be done to slow down the traffic/speeding motorists are a minority/no-one has been hurt or killed- that should say something/no concerns-people need to get a life and get out a bit.

 

Question 33

Are you aware of the village Neighbourhood Watch scheme?

	Number of people	Percentage
Well aware	178	48
Vaguely aware	151	41
Not aware	43	12

 

Question 34

Do you believe that we receive adequate police presence in the village?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	211	58
No	146	40
Don’t know	5	1

 

Question 35

Are there other issues or concerns about community safety that should be addressed where possible through the Parish Plan?

Summary of comment:

• Concern over the size of vehicles using village roads/tractors and large vehicles travelling too fast/poor driving standards-drivers do not think about the possibility of horses and cattle on the road.
• More care when moving slurry/muddy roads are dangerous/dogs on road are a hazard/dog mess should be cleaned up.
• Hardington does not have a safety issue/not aware of the need for a police presence/feel very safe and supported by neighbours.
• Police presence non-existent/policing level appropriate/instead of sitting outside post office once a month, police should walk around the village and get to know people.

 

RECREATION

Question 36

Do you currently follow a leisure pursuit in the village or surrounding countryside such as using the footpaths, horse riding etc?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	229	73
No	84	27

If yes, what activity?

• The main activity recorded in the questionnaires was walking the footpaths, bridleways, etc. Cycling, horse riding and running were the other main activities recorded.

 

Question 37

What other activities would you be interested in participating in if they were available or organised?
Activities suggested (number of people supporting the suggestion)

Nature walks	22
Walking/rambling	22
Clay pigeon shooting	17
Farm walks	17
Cycling	6
Running club	3
Archery	2
Tennis court	2
Table tennis club in village hall
Model boat/aircraft club
Child-friendly activities e.g. walks with pushchair
Cricket
Hockey club
Skating
Village gardening club
Badminton/indoor football in VH
History walks
Motor bike tracks
Cooking classes
Fencing
Live music
Keep fit

Other comments:

• Children can go into Yeovil or Crewkerne to play
• Not shooting (2)
• Why do people need organised recreation? Why can’t they be happy and enjoy where they live?
• Manor Farm Open day: National Farm Open Day Week - June 2008
• All (of these)
• Ban noisy scramble bikes
• All these activities are already available, they don't have to be ORGANISED - this village is obsessed with ORGANISATION - just do it

 

Question 38

Would you be prepared to organise or help in running a leisure or recreational activity once or twice a year?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	64	19
No	275	81

 

Question 39

If a suitable piece of land became available would you support its use as a recreation field?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	290	83
No	60	17

 

Question 40

Do you own a suitable piece of land in the village that could be purchased or rented that could be used by the village or are you aware of any land that could be purchased or rented?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	6	2
No	348	98

 

Question 41

Would you be willing to lead or help run an activity for young people?

	Number of people	Percentage
Yes	27	8
No	316	92

 

Question 42

Would you be willing to help organise the carnival?

	Person 1	Person 2
Yes	46	19
No	199	81

 

Would you be willing to help organise the Horse and Dog Show?

	Person 1	Person 2
Yes	48	13
No	309	87

 

Question 43

The following activities have been suggested and the numbers indicate the number of people who would be interested in forming a group.

Activity	Number of people
Exercise and fitness classes	86
Gardening club	74
Badminton	61
Computer classes	57
Local history group	55
Pilates classes	50
Tennis	45
Book club	35
Art club	33
Photographic club	33
Youth club	32
Tai chi	30
Archaeological group	27
Lunch and/or Tea clubs	27
Over 60’s club	24
Short mat bowls	24
Licensed Social club	13
Poetry club	11

Other suggested	No of people
Table tennis	5
Dance	4
Ballroom dancing	3
Bridge	2
Golf	2
Archery	1
BMX	1
Car Club	1
Conservation Group	1
Cookery	1
Crafts	1
Environment Group	1
Football	1
Kareoke Club	1
La Roc	1
Line dancing	1
Model boat/aircraft	1
Painting	1
Rambling Group	1
Salsa	1
Scuba Diving	1
Snooker	1
Visiting Theatre Group	1

 

OTHER ASPECTS

Question 44 - SWOT Analysis

What are the STRENGTHS of the Parish?

Summary of comments:

• A peaceful and friendly rural village set in idyllic surroundings
• Excellent community spirit with lots of activities/groups
• Village shop/post office, 2 pubs, church and village hall
• Little or no pollution or crime
• Near enough to larger towns with other facilities.

What are the WEAKNESSES of the Parish?

Summary of comments:

• State of the roads-potholes, litter, dog mess, mud and slurry together with narrow access roads
• Limited outdoor recreation/sports facilities-particularly for young people- and the limitations of the village hall
• Property becoming increasingly expensive concomitant with a lack of affordable housing
• People coming from outside and wanting to change/urbanise the village against the wishes of many who want things to stay as they are

What OPPORTUNITIES present themselves?

Summary of comments:

• To identify how the residents wish to see Hardington in years to come and who are willing to put something back into the community by leading or joining local activities
• To bid for funding to finance development projects to sustain, strengthen and enhance the quality of village life e.g. improvements to the village hall, the acquisition of a recreation ground, planting trees and flowers around the village
• Encourage more use of local produce and local suppliers of goods and services and encourage the use of public transport

What THREATS do you perceive?

Summary of comments:

• Closure of the shop/post office and the pre-school
• More housing-more cars and Yeovil encroaching on Hardington changing the culture and charm of the village
• Too many outsiders/townies/non-west country people moving into the village and wanting to change everything and not accepting Hardington as it is
• Lack of affordable housing means young people will leave Hardington, the village will become a retirement society and ultimately die.

 

Question 45

Is there anything you would like to see in the village or anything you wish to add that has not already been mentioned in this questionnaire?

Summary of comments:

• Please keep the village as it is. It is a rural farming village-not an extension of Yeovil.
• Need for further improvements to recycling services, e.g. skips in the village for plastic and cardboard. Re-introduce ‘green bin’ service.
• A recreation ground has disadvantages (drink/drugs). People can use the one at West Coker.
• Should be a ‘First Response’ Team with defibrillator in the village and a prescription service for the elderly/ infirm.
• Noise from ‘off road’ motorbikes is a nuisance.

Other Comments made:

• Thank you for your splendid efforts
• Well done to the Parish for conducting this consultation
• A very well thought out questionnaire. Congratulations to those involved
• I think David Cleaton and the Parish Plan Steering Group have done a brilliant job in producing this and deserve our congratulations. Grateful thanks
• Thank you for this opportunity to express personal opinions
• Full marks to the Steering Group for structuring this questionnaire. A lot of work
• Well done and thank you for giving us the opportunity to have our say.