Reportandplan

THE HELMDON PARISH PLAN
A FOOTPATH TO HELMDON’S FUTURE
Report & Action Plan

R What is the Helmdon Parish Plan?
The Helmdon Parish Plan aims to identify the current and future needs of the village and is a summary of the thoughts, opinions and ideas of the people of the parish.
Working out how to meet these needs together means us having an action plan for the future.
The plan covers the Parish of Helmdon comprising of approximately 350 properties and 950 residents and includes the settlements of Astwell, Falcutt and all outlying farms and properties.
Parish Plans are part of the Countryside Agency's "Vital Villages" initiative and the purpose of a Parish Plan is to "… set out a vision of what is important, how new development can best be fitted in, the design and quality standards it should meet, how to preserve local features and to map out the facilities which the community needs to safeguard for the future." Plans should "identify key facilities and services, set out the problems that need to be tackled and demonstrate how distinctive character and features can be preserved."
The Countryside Agency works in conjunction with other bodies to implement the initiative at local level. For
Helmdon that has meant close co-operation with Northamptonshire ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural
England) and SNC (South Northamptonshire Council).
R Why have a parish plan?
By giving everybody in the parish the opportunity to express opinions and ideas, people are better informed about local need.
The work and decisions of Helmdon Parish Council and other local organisations are supported by the outcomes of the plan.
Statistical evidence on specific issues backs up views and feelings. The voice of our community is strengthened.
People are more involved in what goes on around them, many of them for the first time. Our community spirit is enhanced.
Statutory authorities can be influenced by the united views and needs of our community.
Individuals and organisations are prepared for questions or issues that arise about changes or threats to local services and activities.
The Helmdon Parish Plan should not be an end in itself. It should represent an opportunity for the community to make realistic recommendations, take them forward and follow their progress.
A parish plan should be an action plan for the future.
R How was it done?
A working group was set up at a village meeting on 1st April 2003 comprised of 6 Topic Groups, each with a group leader. The 6 Topic Group leaders then formed the Steering Group along with the Steering Group leader and an administrator.
The following is a summary of what each Topic Group discussed. It was up to each Topic Group to decide what they needed to cover by consulting the village as a whole.
Transport: highways, footpaths, cycleways, buses, trains, potholes, bridges
Youth: 0 – 5, 5 – 11, 11 – 18, youth club, play facilities, events, groups, activities
Housing & Development: affordable housing, rental properties, employment opportunities, village design statement
Amenities: shop, pub, reading room, post office, internet, healthcare, school, other public places
Culture: arts, sports, heritage, history, education, social & leisure facilities, religion, other
Environment: recycling, conservation, green areas, community safety, crime, natural history
– 1 –

The key to putting the plan together was public consultation and the first step of the consultation was the holding of a Future Needs Day on 2nd August 2003 in the school hall. The event attracted more than 230
people and allowed members of the community to express their views and opinions on the current and future needs of the community. The Future Needs Day also helped raise awareness of the project among members of the community.
Based on the findings of the Future Needs Day, the Topic Groups put together questions to go in to a questionnaire that was circulated to every household in the parish. 266 households took part, which represents 76% of the parish. Individual questionnaires were collected from 500 residents over 11 years of age, with 70 collected from the under elevens.
R How much did it cost?
In 2002 Helmdon Parish Council applied to the Countryside Agency for funding to carry out a parish plan during the course of 2003/4. A grant of £4,039.01 was awarded in June 2003 which was the full amount applied for. Helmdon Parish Council also allocated £269.27 towards the cost of the plan. The grants covered such things as production and analysis of the questionnaire, the holding of meetings and events and the production and distribution of the final plan.
The main “cost” however was volunteer time – given freely by members of the working group, many additional volunteers, and of course the people of Helmdon in attending parish plan events and taking part in the questionnaire.
R Who was involved?
The driving force behind the parish plan was the working group, which was made up of approximately 30
volunteers from the parish of Helmdon. Co-ordinating this group was an 8-strong steering group, including 2
members of Helmdon Parish Council. Numerous volunteers joined in the process by, for example, serving teas at public events or delivering publicity leaflets and questionnaires.
The steering group received support throughout from Rachael Abbott of Northamptonshire ACRE, who also acted as the liaison between the steering group, the Countryside Agency and South Northamptonshire
Council.
During the course of the public consultation and the subsequent research and questionnaire analysis many outside bodies were consulted, for example; South Northamptonshire Council, Northamptonshire County
Council, Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire ACRE, South Northants Rural Transport Partnership, the Countryside Agency, and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.
R Topic Group Conclusions
R Transport
The Transport section of the questionnaire received the highest response with over 252 people saying it was the most important issue. Of these 140 said that speeding traffic caused concern, 34 said that the state of the roads and pavements was the most important issue and 32 said improved footpaths and bridleways was their number one issue. 30 said that rural transport came top and for 16 it was the proposed reopening of the Central Railway.
Issues which came up quite a lot were poor street lighting, poor parking, the need to slow traffic through the village, the provision of a bus shelter, a bus stop at the top end of the village, more bridleways, support for a safe cycle track to Brackley and a new map of the public rights of way.
R Youth
The Youth Topic Group considered the results of the Individual Survey (completed by those aged 11 years and over) and also the Under Elevens Survey.
– 2 –

When asked which facilities would be most important to provide the top three were: more play equipment in the school field (54%), an adventure playground (53%) and a park that can be used all the time (59%).
63% of respondents thought that a dedicated building for the use of the young people was needed and there was clear support for youth groups for various ages. Importantly there were good numbers of volunteers saying they were prepared to help out with these groups, perhaps supported by a part-time paid youth worker.
R Amenities
The results revealed a generally high awareness of the facilities on offer in Helmdon, but a generally low level of usage. Of the commercial facilities available in the village (Post Office, shop, pub, butcher, milkman and fish van) only the milk delivery service is used by more than 30% of respondents on a regular basis.
Q21 showed that the vast majority of respondents think it unreasonable to travel beyond Brackley/Banbury for health facilities such as accident & emergency (90%), maternity (81%), x-ray (84%), dentistry (93%) and nursing care (93%).
Q22 demonstrated that Helmdon has above average take up of home computing with 85% of respondents saying they have access to the Internet at home. 73% of homes in the parish have computers and will soon
(August 2004) have access to broadband.
R Environment
There was an overwhelming response from the under 11s in reply to the question about what they most liked about Helmdon. A huge majority said it was the countryside, the ability to play in it and ride horses in it, and the fact that they felt safe because they knew everyone.
67 people chose some aspect of the environment as their most important issue in the questionnaire.
A whole series of environmental and conservation issues came up: 203 people thought it was a good idea to create a village pond; 217 would support improving the school conservation area, 176 wanted to plant more hedges and 327 thought cleaning the brook was a good idea. In addition, there was a low awareness of the fact that Helmdon has both a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and a County Wildlife Site. 74 people expressed an interest in setting up or joining a Wildlife and Conservation group. The Environment Topic
Group thought that setting up such a group could deal with all the above issues.
A large number of people use Helmdon's recycling facilities, with 50% recycling paper and 62% recycling glass there. 48% would like to see the facility expanded to include garden waste; 38% to include clothing/shoe banks; 57% to include plastic bottles and 51% to include cardboard. 26% of respondents did not want kerbside recycling to be implemented in the village with the remainder being generally receptive to the idea.
Considering the low level of crime in Helmdon, a high number of people said they were concerned or very concerned about crime or anti-social behaviour in Helmdon. For example, 206 people were concerned about house burglary; 143 people about theft from a garden; 188 people about theft from an outbuilding; 202
people about vandalism. In contrast, only 34% thought there was a need for a greater police presence. The most popular measure (54%) for reducing crime was to provide more activities for younger people.
R Culture
Less than 50% of people participate in any sporting activity. Having better and closer sports facilities may lead to a healthier and fitter population. There was however a good proportion of people wanting to take part in tennis (146) with 189 feeling that Helmdon needed a tennis court.
There was a good response to Q29 providing an opinion on the state of the sports/play facilities in the village with 33% rating the sports pavilion as ‘poor’. Coupling this section with Q34 (on whether Helmdon needs another venue) showed there were 194 people who felt that another venue was needed. There were 6½
pages of comments about existing facilities being too small and the need for space for youth, sport, parties, plays etc for 150 to 250 people. There is a groundswell of support for a new facility.
– 3 –

Helmdon appears to have a desire for cultural activities. Over 75% of respondents say they would attend exhibitions, concerts and drama on some occasion in the village. 348 think the church is a good venue for concerts and 278 think it could be a good venue for exhibitions. Good numbers also responded to the other suggestions with cinema being the least liked activity for the church.
The village shows support for a variety of additional clubs and customs. Clubs that would be best supported are Gardening (117), Film (92) and Wine (90).
R Housing & Development
The results showed that, of those that responded, approximately 70% did not feel there should be more building in Helmdon and the village framework should not be enlarged.
63% of respondents thought there was no need for more rented accommodation.
The results showed that there is overall support for the current planning control measures as used by the parish council and the local planning authorities.
R What happens now?
The action points as defined by the individual topic groups are summarised on the following pages.
The action plan is not an end in itself. To implement any of the ideas in the plan will require time, money and effort. Some action points can be achieved with very little resources, others may take thousands of pounds and many years to realise.
The parish plan steering group, which will cease to exist when the plan is published, intends to reinvent itself, probably with new membership, as the “Parish Plan Monitoring Group” (PPMG). The PPMG will monitor progress and report to the village on a regular basis as to what’s happening. Where the parish council needs to be involved, the PPMG will formulate proposals for consideration at parish council meetings. The PPMG
will help ensure that the plan is implemented and that there is accountability to the residents of the parish.
One thing is certain – nothing can be achieved without people. Luckily, the plan suggests that the people of
Helmdon are one of its greatest strengths. If everyone works together, the parish council, the village groups and organisations, businesses and individual volunteers, then nothing is impossible.
Imagine what you would try if you knew you couldn’t fail!
Further information is available from:
Helmdon Parish Plan, [address removed]
tel: [phone number removed] e-mail: [email address removed] web site: www.helmdon.com/parishpla
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The
Action
Publicise bus services
& timetables.
Inform
Bus
Service
Providers
&
NCC
of results.
Form a
Rural
Transport
Group. Provide a community minibus.
Set up
Car
Share
Scheme.
110
people said they use the bus service.
However, of these,
55
said this was rarely.
Many people made adverse comments concerning the new bus service and many wanted a new bus stop at
The
Square.
110
people said they use the bus service.
However, of these,
55
said this was rarely.
Many people made adverse comments concerning the new bus service and many wanted a new bus stop at
The
Square.
253
people wanted more buses on more routes.
166
wanted a bus shelter.
30
people listed rural transport as their most important issue.
170
people would make use of a community minibus.
51
people volunteered to drive it.
30
people listed rural transport as their most important issue.
55
people would be willing to car share.
–
5
–
Form a group to produce a register of interest and details of scheme to include ideas for publication and how people can get involved.
Form a group to carry out study of feasibility of purchasing a suitable vehicle and the ongoing costs of running and maintaining the vehicle as well as the management of the scheme.
Form a group to work with stakeholders to establish criteria for new bus services, investigate possibility of additional bus stop at top end of village and the provision of bus shelters at all bus stops.
Parish
Council to send results to relevant people and ask for comments.
Parish
Council to ensure services are advertised on notice boards, in
Talkabout and on w eb site.
How it will be tackled
252
people listed transport as their most important issue
(Q67)
Why this action was chosen
Transport
Helmdon
Parish
Plan
–
Action
List
Medium effort
–
could achieve a visible result of publication in
6
months
–
perhaps a year to see end result.
High effort level
–
would probably take more than a year to see any results. Medium effort
–
would take at least a year to see any results.
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly.
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly.
Effort required to achieve action and time needed to get a result
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Parish
Council.
Parish
Council.
Lead
Responsibility

Set up
Volunteer
Lift
Service.
Form a
Road
Safety
Group.
Push for general highway improvements.
Welsh
Lane improvements.
Form a
Parish
Paths
Group.
Create cycleway to
Brackley.
114
people would be willing to take people for medical appointments.
30
people listed rural transport as their most important issue.
140
people listed speeding traffic as their most important issue.
258
people said the bridge by
Jeff's was dangerous.
275
people listed other danger spots.
200
people said pavements were difficult to use.
363
people said parking outside the school was a problem.
34
people listed the state of roads and pavements as their most important concern.
270
people said that the state of the roads in
Helmdon were either poor or very poor.
222
said that this was also their opinion of the pavements.
257
people said that a roundabout at the
Welsh
Lane crossroad would make the road safer, whilst
152
thought it would not.
There were also a number of other suggestions of how the
B4525
could be made safer.
341
people use the footpaths and bridleways.
296
found them difficult to use.
385
people wanted more paths.
349
wanted a guide or map.
32
people listed this as their most important issue.
293
people said they would use a new off-road path to
Brackley.
–
6
–
Form a group to conduct feasibility study into provision of a cycle way to
Brackley using the route of the disused
Central
Railway.
Form a group to analyse the results of the parish plan and investigate the improvements suggested
(e.g.
improved access and production of a new paths map).
Forward results to
Rights of
Way team at
NCC
and
Northamptonshire
Local
Access
Forum.
Contact
County
Highways
Officer to ascertain plans for
B4525
and highlight support for roundabout at crossroads.
Lobby
NCC,
County
Councillor,
Highways
Agency,
Atkins etc to provide an action plan of improvements.
Form a group to analyse the results of the parish plan and make recommendations to the parish council for improving road safety, possibly co-
ordinated by
Parish
Highways
Representative.
Group to also work with school governors on specific issue relating to safety of school children.
Form a group to organise a scheme for volunteers to give lifts to people for doctor’s/hospital appointments etc and provide information on how people can book a lift.
High effort level
–
would probably take several years to see any results. Medium effort
–
could be achieved quickly and visible results could be seen within one year.
Medium effort
–
could take more than a year to achieve a result.
Low to medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
Medium effort
–
would probably take more than a year to see visible results.
Medium effort
–
could achieve a result within
6
months.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Parish
Council,
Road
Safety
Group. Parish
Council,
Road
Safety
Group. PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting,
School
Governors.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.

The
Action
Provide new venue for youth and youth activities.
Develop playing field facilities. Develop junior football team.
Develop junior cricket team.
Develop junior rugby team.
Set up youth clubs.
280
people said
Helmdon needed a dedicated venue for young people.
255
wanted more activities for young people.
18
people listed a new venue as their most important issue.
225
people wanted better play equipment.
258
wanted a park that could be used all the time.
This was the under-11s’
most popular issue.
132
people wanted better access to the football pitch.
134
people wanted a junior cricket team.
112
people wanted a junior rugby team.
284
wanted an
11-15
years club;
198
wanted a
6-10
years club;
183
a
16-18
years club.
Almost equal numbers wanted after-
school and holiday clubs for each age group.
–
7
–
Provide youth clubs for
6
–
10s,
11
–
15s, and
16
–
18s.
Club may take the form of a holiday club or after-school club.
A
part-time paid y outh worker may support clubs.
Set up team using volunteer coaching.
Set up team using volunteer coaching.
To include better access to football pitches and provide volunteer coaching.
Investigate possibilities of providing access to play equipment on school field all day and increase range of equipment and facilities.
Determine exact requirements in consultation with user groups and stakeholders.
Look for possible sites, seek funding etc.
Combine with new facility proposed by
Culture
Topic
Group
(see below
).
How it will be tackled
Medium to high effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
Medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
Medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year. Low to medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
Low to medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
High effort level
–
would take several years to see any results.
Effort required to achieve action and time needed to get a result
57
people listed y outh issues as their most important issue
(Q67)
Why this action was chosen
Youth
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
PPMG,
School,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Lead
Responsibility

Communicate results of parish plan to businesses and providers of services in
Helmdon.
Highlight results of health provision questions to relevant authorities.
Of the commercial facilities available in the village
(Post
Office, shop, pub, butcher, milkman and fish van)
only milk deliveries are used by more than
30%
of respondents on a regular basis.
427
people said
A&E
should be in
Brackley or
Banbury.
337
said maternity should be in
Banbury or
Brackley.
Strong support for
Horton's facilities.
Results to be copied to local healthcare providers,
Primary
Care
Trusts etc.
Results to be copied to relevant people so they can see how well their business/service is being used in the parish.
Already achieved
(begins
August
4th).
How it will be tackled
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly.
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly.
None. Effort required to achieve action and time needed to get a result
The
Action
Review of dog fouling issues in the parish.
Annual
Litter
Picking
Day.
Why this action was chosen
17
people listed dog fouling as their most important issue.
246
people wanted dog waste bins.
161
people wanted notices.
160
people wanted better enforcement.
178
better education of dog owners.
343
people wanted litter removed.
161
people said they litter picking day.
–
8
–
Reinstate an annual litter-picking day
–
perhaps to coincide with
VoY
judging.
Survey current level of dog fouling to determine level of problem.
Investigate provision of additional bins, clarify law and local regulations and publicise same by way of education.
How it will be tackled
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Effort required to achieve action and time needed to get a result
67
people chose some aspect of the environment as their most important issue
(Q67)
Campaign for broadband
Internet access.
212
people said they would pay for broadband access.
Another
127
said they might pay.
10
people listed broadband as their most important issue.
Environment
The
Action
22
people listed amenities as their most important issue
(Q67)
Why this action was chosen
Amenities
PPMG. PPMG.
Lead
Responsibility
PPMG. PPMG.
None. Lead
Responsibility

Promote recycling in parish.
Publicise crime figures.
299
people use
Helmdon's recycling facility;
185
use
Tesco's recycling.
High support for an increase in recycling facilities.
Considering the low level of crime in the village, there was a very high level of concern about crime.
Crime figures to be widely publicised to emphasise low levels in parish by way of reassurance.
Use of leaflets,
Talkabout and w eb site to publicise figures.
Also clarify role of
CBOs
&
PCSOs and their contact details.
Forward results of parish plan to
SNC
recycling officer to show support for expanded recycling services.
Form a group to tackle a whole series of environmental and conservation issues arising from the parish plan.
Investigate possibility of providing more litter bins at strategic locations around the village, and a larger litter bin on the playing field.
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly.
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly. Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Low to medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
The
Action
Provide new venue for village groups and activities.
Upgrade heating system in church.
Why this action was chosen
194
people said a new venue was needed.
6.5
pages of comments were written about the inadequacy of current venues
(see youth above).
348
people said the
Church is a good venue or concerts.
278
thought is a good venue for exhibitions.
The church was clearly seen as a suitable venue for a range of community activities.
–
9
–
Parish
Council to endorse the initiative to help the church upgrade its heating system.
Determine exact requirements in consultation with user groups and stakeholders.
Look for possible sites, seek funding etc.
Combine with new facility proposed by
Youth
Topic
Group
(see above).
How it will be tackled
Low to medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
High effort
–
would take several years to achieve a result.
Effort required to achieve action and time needed to get a result
40
people choose cultural or sporting issues as their most important issue
(Q67)
Set up a
Wildlife
&
Conservation
Group.
203
people wanted a pond.
217
wanted to improve the school conservation area.
327
wanted to clean the brook.
74
people wanted to join a wildlife group.
Culture
Provide more/larger litter bins.
266
people asked for a larger litter bin in school playing field.
315
people wanted more litter bins in the village.
PPMG,
Parish
Church.
PPMG,
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Lead
Responsibility
Parish
Council.
PPMG.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
PPMG.

Form a film club.
Form a wine club.
Establish bonfire/fireworks display tradition.
Establish
Easter
Egg
Hunt tradition. Establish
Pancake
Race tradition.
92
people said they would join a film club.
90
people said they would join a wine club.
282
people wanted a bonfire/fireworks.
184
people wanted an
Easter egg hunt.
169
people wanted a pancake race.
Volunteer group or existing village organisation to look at possibilities.
Volunteer group or existing village organisation to look at possibilities.
Volunteer group or existing village organisation to look at possibilities.
To be set up by volunteers to promote wine interests.
To be set up by volunteers to promote films.
Would need to decide upon a venue.
To be set up by volunteers to promote gardening interests.
Form a group to book suitable events in co-
ordination and co-operation with various village groups.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Medium
–
could be achieved within one year.
Low to medium effort
–
could achieve visible results in less than one year.
The
Action
The
Parish
Council's current policy on housing is clearly supported by the villagers.
This needs to be communicated to relevant planning authorities.
Why this action was chosen
334
(70%)
people said no to more housing.
138
said yes to more housing.
336
people did not want the village framework to be enlarged.
–
10
–
Forward results of parish plan to
SNC
&
N.C.C
to show support for current planning practice and policy.
How it will be tackled
Low effort
–
could be achieved quickly.
Effort required to achieve action and time needed to get a result
37
people listed housing as their most important issue
(Q67)
Form a gardening club.
117
people said they would join a gardening club.
Housing
&
Development
Form a
Culture
Group.
Around
80%
of people would attend art and history exhibitions, musical concerts and drama productions.
Parish
Council.
Lead
Responsibility
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.
Community
Volunteers to be identified at public meeting.