Chedworth Parish Plan Consultation Response

Chedwo= rth Parish Plan Consultation Response

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The Environment

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Source= s:

= Questionnaire (Relevant questions: 36 – 45, 57, 61)

= Comments additional to questionnaire

&= nbsp; Comments from initial meeting

= Youth Event (July 30^th)

&= nbsp; Seniors’ consultation (to be arranged)

= St Andrews School consultation=

= Village clubs/societies consultation

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Q36. There are a numbers of ways = that the parish can contribute to its energy needs. Please tick which ones you w= ould support. Tick= more than one box if appropriate.

78% of respondents would support at least one energy generation idea. The most com= monly ticked were allowing solar panels on homes in the parish (66%) and encourag= ing the fitting of solar water heaters to houses (58%).

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals

Allowing solar panels on homes in the parish	271	66%
Encouraging the fitting of solar water heaters to houses	239	58%
Tapping ground heat	179	43%
Allowing small wind turbines on homes in the parish	153	37%
Generating electricity from water power	145	35%
Erection of large wind turbines within the parish	78	19%

I would not support any of these ideas	34	8%
No reply	55	13%

Q37. What do you think could be d= one to improve the environment of the parish?&nbs= p; Tick more than one box if appropriate.

The most common improvements required are repairing dry stone walls (78%) and looking after the woodlands (62%). =

40% of respondents would like verges kept short and tidy, compared with 34% who would like verges left to grow naturally.<= /span>

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals
Repair dry stone walls	323	78%
Look after the woodlands	257	62%
Preserve single trees in special places	201	49%
Preserve old orchards	192	47%
Keep verges short and tidy	166	40%
Plant new orchards	157	38%
Plant more trees	151	37%
Let verges grow naturally	142	34%
Cut down some trees	85	21%
No reply	39	9%

Q38. Would you be prepared to hel= p with any of the following? = Tick= more than one box if appropriate.

= 52% of respondents would be prepared to help with at least one of the items listed= in the question, the most common being protecting wildlife habitats (32%).

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals
Protecting wildlife habitats	131	32%
Surveying wildlife	114	28%
Cleaning the stream	105	25%
Maintaining footpaths	93	23%
Surveying trees	62	15%
No reply	197	48%

Q39. What do you think should be = done to protect wildlife in the parish? <= /span>Tick= more than one box if appropriate.

= The most common answers were to campaign against litter and rubbish (65%), look after the stream (59%) and reduce pollution in the countryside (55%).<= /span>

= 29% of respondents would like shooting and hunting discouraged, while 22% would li= ke them to be encouraged.

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals
Campaign against litter and rubbish	266	65%
Look after the stream	244	59%
Reduce pollution in the countryside	225	55%
Create local nature reserves	143	35%
Discourage shooting and hunting	120	29%
Create new ponds	117	28%
Encourage shooting and hunting	90	22%
Discourage too many people using the countryside	19	5%
No reply	48	12%

Q40. Do you think that any of the following landscape features in the parish need to be protected? Tick more than one box if appropr= iate.

The most common f= eatures which respondents would like protected are stone walls (76%) and post boxes (61%).

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals
Stone walls	312	76%
Post boxes	250	61%
Open valley bottom	234	57%
Hedges	224	54%
Spaces between houses	222	54%
Natural stone roofs	222	54%
Groups of trees	222	54%
Waterwheel	214	52%
Telephone boxes	194	47%
Beech walk by cricket pitch	180	44%
Railway line	126	31%
Airfield	76	18%
No reply	48	12%

Q41. If you experienced difficult= ies when using local footpaths and bridleways, which, if any, of the following difficulties did you find? Tick= more than one box if appropriate.

= 52% of respondents have experienced at least one difficulty, the most common being mud/water and bushes/nettles.

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals

Mud/water	108	26%
Bushes/nettles	88	21%
No signposts	61	15%
Crops across path	60	15%
Barbed wire	52	13%
High stiles	39	9%
Farm animals	37	9%
Locked gates	29	7%
Other users	14	3%
Other	13	3%

No difficulty experienced	109	26%
No reply	89	22%

Comm= ents

· Stiles are not suitable for dogs

· Better (safer) stile maintenance

· Fouling of footpaths and verges by dogs is a constant problem. Could bins be instal= led around the village and entrances to footpaths?

· Dog mess near the pub & Fields Road

· Trouble with electric fences and mud from building contractors on footpaths

Q42. In relation to footpaths and bridleways - would you like to see any of the following? Tick more than one box if appropr= iate.

= 47% of respondents ticked at least one of the items listed in the question, the mo= st common being maps of local footpaths (44%).

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals

Maps of local footpaths	182	44%
Leaflets of walks available to buy	125	30%
Safe parking for out of village walkers	111	27%
Guided walks of the area	52	13%

No opinion	73	18%
No reply	98	24%

Q43. What do you think should be = done to help protect and enhance the local environment of the parish? Tick more than one box if appropr= iate.

= The most common answers were avoiding urbanisation (64%) and encouraging energy savi= ng (56%).

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals
Avoid urbanisation	262	64%
Encourage energy saving	232	56%
Encourage wildlife areas	189	46%
Improved public transport	146	35%
Tidy public spaces	130	32%
More employment locally	100	24%
Car sharing	71	17%
Improved rights of way	64	16%
Restrict bonfires	53	13%
Advice on healthier lifestyles	32	8%
No reply	56	14%

Com= ments

· Do not want any urbanisation of the village in any way

· Avoid urbanisation e.g. street lights and excessive road markings

· Beware creeping urbanisation

· No urbanisation like street lights, signs etc. It can't be preserved in aspic, but should be allowed to develop as a thriving community, catering for all ages= .

· To keep Chedworth looking more countryside (e.g. no stre= et lights)

· One of the reasons that I came to live here is that I don’t want it to "develop" - i.e. become built up to the ex= tent that the pleasure of living in this beautiful place is eroded by unnecessary human intervention

(Some of the comments moved to Q59)<= /span>

Q44. Does your household suffer disturbance from any of the following?&nbs= p; Tick more than one box if appropriate.

54% of respondent= s suffer disturbance from at least one source, the most common being low-flying airc= raft (27%).

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals
Low-flying aircraft	111	27%
Hunting	59	14%
Light pollution	52	13%
Noise from domestic animals	37	9%
Traffic noise	31	8%
Noise from mowers/strimmers	30	7%
Farm animals in gardens/on roads	23	6%
Noise from farm animals	8	2%
Other	22	5%
No reply	190	46%

Comm= ents

· Limit low level flying far more strictly

· Problem with low flying air crafts!

·     Airfield has little/no use and could be put to great use i.e. office, housing etc.

·     Airfield - good site for wind turbines and small business units, craft business units and for tree planting

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Q45. What are your views on the standard of the following environmental services in the parish?<= /span>

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= The proportions who rated each service as poor are summarised in the chart, e.g. 23% of respondents rated roadside care/street cleaning as poor. The full results can be found in t= he tables.

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<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>   No. of individuals:

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Good

Reasonable<= /p>

Poor

Not applicable

No opinion<= /p>

No reply

Roadside care/street cleaning

46

169

93

1

28

75

Winter weather service (snow clearance)

58

145

75

0

58

76

Roadside recycling

125

135

61

0

16

75

Current amount of street lighting

93

113

50

0

52

104

Recycling at the village hall

103

152

21

0

61

75

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<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>   % of 412 individuals:

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Good

Reasonable<= /p>

Poor

Not applicable

No opinion<= /p>

No reply

Roadside care/street cleaning

11%

41%

23%

0.2%

7%

18%

Winter weather service (snow clearance)

14%

35%

18%

0%

14%

18%

Roadside recycling

30%

33%

15%

0%

4%

18%

Current amount of street lighting

23%

27%

12%

0%

13%

25%

Recycling at the village hall

25%

37%

5%

0%

15%

18%

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Comm= ents

·     Improve on our road surface

·     The road surface through Chedworth Laines is breaking up= and needs repairing as it carries farm traffic

·     More recycling please.

·     Better recycling

·     Better recycling, plastics in particular, where ALL plas= tic can be re-cycled, liked in Oxfordshire. Recycling to take all card.

·     No street lighting should be added

Q61. Is the St Andrews church important to you? Tick more than one box if appropr= iate.

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85% of respondents indicated that the St Andrews church is important to them for at least one reason, m= ost commonly as an historic building (75%).

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No. of individuals

% of 412 individuals

As an historic building

310

75%

As a focal point for the community

256

62%

Weddings and funerals

205

50%

For baptisms

149

36%

For Sunday worship

117

28%

Not important

23

6%

No reply

39

9%

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&= nbsp;

Initial meeting: Local countryside/landscape, tranquility and our Public Rights of Way network identified as strengths by all 3 groups.

“Overtidiness” identified as a threat by all 3 groups. <= o:p>

Renewable energy schemes were nominated as an “opportunityR= 21; by 2 out of 3 groups.

The “protection of wildlife and nature” gained the highe= st number of votes in a sticker-awarding exercise (28 out of a total of 125).<= o:p>

St Andrews School consultation:

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= The most significant assets of Chedworth were recorded as

§      = “open spaces” (37%),

§      = “wildlife” (31%)

§      = “tranquility” (20%)

§      = “nice people” (14%)

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= Favourite activities among Chedworth school children included

§      = Cycling (40%)

§      = Walking (20%

§      = Playing in fields (6%)

§      = Tree climbing (6%)

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= Litter was perceived as a problem by 6%

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= Measures to encourage wildlife were requested by 20% of respondents, more trees by 9% and more recycling by 6% of respondents

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Consultation with village club= s and societies:

= RBL (Chedworth Branch) would like the drystone walls and roadside verges to be maintained in the vicinity of the war memorial.

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	Good	Reasonable<= /p>	Poor	Not applicable	No opinion<= /p>	No reply
Roadside care/street cleaning	46	169	93	1	28	75
Winter weather service (snow clearance)	58	145	75	0	58	76
Roadside recycling	125	135	61	0	16	75
Current amount of street lighting	93	113	50	0	52	104
Recycling at the village hall	103	152	21	0	61	75

	No. of individuals	% of 412 individuals

As an historic building	310	75%
As a focal point for the community	256	62%
Weddings and funerals	205	50%
For baptisms	149	36%
For Sunday worship	117	28%

Not important	23	6%
No reply	39	9%