Village Plan Consultation at Longparish School 18th July 2003

The school is used by parishioners and people from outside the village.   We set up a display in the school hall on the evening of the annual school BBQ and invited people to give their views.   We asked them to say if they were parishioners or from outside the village.

Comments from the public

People were asked to record their comments using post it notes on displays in the school hall.   We gave headings and suggested what they might think about with some brief words on the posters.   This is the raw data.   It needs some analysis before we can go on the prepare the next stage, a questionnaire. In this report information from parishioners is in green and information from people from outside the village is in blue .

Communication & Information within the village

What’s good?

• The church groups
• Website.
• Newsletter.
• Village handbook.

What’s bad or missing?

• Website needs times of church services
• Broadband

What should be improved?

• Advertising:- Social activities for parents & children
• Village notice board
• We don't receive our Hill & Valley until a wk after the main village!
• Hill & Valley to non resident children at school every month

What’s the most important?

• Hassle for broadband access

Crime, Nuisance and Personal Safety

What’s good?

• Feels "safe" living here
• There is not much litter in the village which is good in a small village like Longparish
• The sense of belonging
• Everyone's so friendly especially around the school

What’s bad or missing?

• Fly tipping in hedges
• Streetlights!
  Dog control!
  Local coppers on the beat (not just whizzing through in fast cars)
• Litter every day around skate ramp.   Why can't they use bins!
• Dog poo.   Football pitch
• Village police
• The clay shooting disturbs the neighbourhood and can be very annoying (please help!)
• No close police to come early in case of emergency (Longparish Police?)
• Dangerous dogs @ football pitch
• dog mess around village
• Dogs!
  Dog mess!
  Heavy sprung gate at football pitch (on Test Way)
• Cat poo
• Litter around skate ramp
• Dog mess on football pitch

What should be improved?

• Neighbourhood watch - where are they?
• Police - no evidence of
• No close police near by the school in case of an emergency
• Tarmac? Its all over the road

What’s the most important?

• Gate from footpath to sugar lane   unfriendly not villagely can't open it

Education & Childcare

What’s good?

• good school very very
• Village school
• Village school A+++
• Very good school +++++
• Friendly school good feeling
• Playgroup A+
• The placing of the school is a very nice place to be set to look at wildlife and river and study nature more effectively
• Playgroup
• Friendly school
• Brilliant school
• School playgroup
• School playgroup

What’s bad or missing?

What should be improved?

• School buildings and storage areas
• Parking + road outside school improved for cycle training
• Buildings
• Better parking at the school
  Poor access to school or corner
• Parking for school very bad

What’s the most important?

• School v. good.   Must maintain it at all costs
• The new building project at the school

Work

What's good?

What’s bad or missing?

• Need broadband access
• Need broadband please

What should be improved?

• Need broadband
  Need local services for small businesses; accounts/tax info/grants etc

What’s the most important?

Traffic & Road Safety

What’s good?

What’s bad or missing?

• Unsafe new road bridge( Swan bridge)
• Speed of traffic
• People drive through the village with very loud music in their cars
• Speed
• Enforcement of speed limit
  Access to church/school car park, esp for cycling
• The clay shooting annoys the village
• Speed - too fast
• Need traffic bollards around school (cont'd below)
  • •  Tick
  • •  tick
  • •  2nd)
• (cont'd) not outside councilers house!! who lives on straight road!!

What should be improved?

• Lorries should not be allowed to drive through (except local deliveries)
• Access to the village hall
• Paving for children to school
• A pavement on the strip of road leading to the village hall
• The corner on road by village hall is dangerous for pedestrians to cross from the school to the village hall
• We need post around the bendy corners
• Need black & whit warning signs around corner outside school
• I think a mirror needs to be put by the corner by the village hall to help drivers see what's coming up the other side

What’s the most important?

• Slow the traffic down
• Also slow the parents down on the school run
• Traffic calming!
• Weight restrictions!
• 20mph limit!

Environment

What’s good?

• There doesn't seem to be much litter & the village clean-up seem well attended

What’s bad or missing?

• Adverts to show recycling bins
• Central site for cardboard/glass/plastic/clothes

What should be improved?

• Litter around skate ramp!
• Litter + language around skate ramp
• People should put their rubbish in the bin and not on the floor

What’s the most important?

Landscape & Wildlife

What’s good?

• Good river walk
• Wildlife - country/rural environment

What’s bad or missing?

• Circular route / liked bus route around village (walking bus!)

What should be improved?

• Children's ability to see rivers close up
• To be able to look at the wildlife and have more access for children to river
• More access to river

What’s the most important?

Access to Healthcare

What’s good?

What’s bad or missing?

• Need more exercise classes in Hall

What should be improved?

• Local clinics - pharmacist , practice nurse perhaps 2 sessions a week
• Local healthcare

What’s the most important?

Support for the Elderly & Housebound

What’s good?

What’s bad or missing?

• Car lifts rota

What should be improved?

What’s the most important?

Housing

What’s good?

• 4 bed affordable housing or council

What’s bad or missing?

• Limited new housing development
• Affordable housing
• Need for affordable housing
• Need for 'affordable' housing but sensitively placed - no 'ghettos'.   The acceptance that vibrant villages need a cross section of society
• Down with NIMBYs!
• No housing for first timers
  • •  Agree
• Affordable housing for villages not for a quick profit!! for outsiders

What should be improved?

• Affordable housing does not exist in the S.E.

What’s the most important?

Village Retail Facilities

What’s good?

• V. good shop + P.O.
• Shop, pubs
• Good public houses + shop
• Excellent shop. I've used a number of v. shops in the past & this is one of the best
• Excellent shop
• Excellent pub
• Lovely food at the pub
• Good shop & pubs

What’s bad or missing?

What should be improved?

• fruit & veg in village shop

What’s the most important?

• Shop, pubs, (school) church hall

People

What’s good?

• The villagers are nice
• people are kind and helpful in the village

What’s bad or missing?

• Too many "new" "comers" dictating village life eg, Bruce Faulds clay shoot
  • •  I agree
• Too many people who do not realise what we have got here
• Too many commuters living in village who don't know what village life is all about.

What should be improved?

More young families(+ cheaper price to buy here) for all

What’s the most important?

Sport, Recreation & Social Facilities

What’s good?

• The school does a lot of sports and games

What’s bad or missing?

• Youth club would be good

What should be improved?

• Bit more for young folks?
• More parents football

What’s the most important?

• To get kids away from the TV out into the country

Transport

What’s good?

• The bus service is good

What’s bad or missing?

What should be improved?

• Irregular bus service if any
• More transport services & cheaper for kids!
• Childrens behaviour on Testbourne bus

What’s the most important?

Visitors & Tourists

What’s good?

What’s bad or missing?

What should be improved?

• Awareness of the beautiful area and the school/church

What’s the most important?

Community Buildings

What’s good?

• Improvements in Village Hall
• Village Hall has improved last 6 months

What’s bad or missing?

What should be improved?

• Village Hall
• Village Hall Heating

What’s the most important?

Young People

What’s good?

What’s bad or missing?

• Affordable housing

What should be improved?

• After school care for children
• More clubs for young people
• More sports clubs in the village

What’s the most important?

What else?

What are the best things about living and/or working in Longparish?

• Friendly people
• lovely scenery
• great pub food
• great shop
• The Landscape/Environment
• Village shop
• 1: decent people
• 2:old-fashioned community values
• 3: lovely eccentrics/character (don't mean to be patronising)
• 4:School
• The village is very quiet
• The environment, shame its so expensive to live in
• Great people
• beautiful scenery

What are the worst things about living and/or working in Longparish?

• Transport
• Terrible state of footpaths during the Autumn and winter (well for a Londoner anyway)
• Slight insularity and unwillingness to accept change or innovation

We need volunteers to help

We mentioned

We need volunteers to take this plan forward, help design survey, enthusiasts, join the steering group, help survey everyone, experts on one aspect.