TRANSPORT There are 259 cars and 10 motor bikes in the parish, and most are parked off the road. 89 households have one car, 61 have two and 11 households have none. The majority of cars (125) are used for work/education. If one partner takes the car to work this leads to occasional difficulties to access doctor, hospital, chemist, dentist, social services and optician. However, 96% of users see the service provided by Modbury Caring as good. 237 (70%) people see danger spots on the roads, with 40 people particularly mentioning St. Ann’s Chapel and 22 people the area around Bigbury village post office. 185 (54%) think existing road sign warnings are adequate, but 196 (56%) people want speed restrictions introduced as 221 (61%) people see speeding traffic as a problem, with 24 people particularly mentioning Folly Hill and through Bigbury-on-Sea. Various suggestions were made: A mini-roundabout at St Ann’s Chapel and sleeping policemen were the most popular, and other suggestions included 20mph signs, traffic lights and removing the second hand car lot at Bigbury village. Most users of the bus service thought it good or reasonable but 46% of those expressing an opinion thought the routes poor, and suggestions were made that there were less buses to Ivybridge and more to Kingsbridge and Plymouth direct. 287 (81%) people would support concessionary car park fees at Bigbury-on-Sea. Most people see hedge/verge maintenance as good or reasonable, but 83 (23%) people see it as poor, and 103 (29%) people see the general state of the roads as poor. Action: Representatives from the Local Authority, Highways Department and the Bus Operators will be invited to the forthcoming public meeting where you will have the opportunity to raise the matters that concern you directly with the people appropriate. 65 people have attended a Parish Council meeting within the last year, however, the majority of parishioners do not know how it spends the Council Tax available to it and141 people don’t know any Councillors. It appears that the Parish Council should improve its publicity in order to raise public awareness of the way it functions. VOLUNTARY WORK 84 people preform voluntary work COMMUNICATIONS BIGBURY NEWS. Its future should be secured as 77 people would volunteer an article and 37 people would be prepared to help with production! To ensure everyone gets it, the present system of funding and delivery proves best with advertising, fund raising and support from the Parish Council. It should go from strength to strength. Action: Would those prepared to help please make themselves known at the Public Meeting. RELIGION 228 people (64%) see a place of worship as important for village life. It is definitely important that St. Lawrence’s Church maintains its presence in the parish (stated by 81%, 254 people). MILLENNIUM Should the Parish support the Millennium? 235 (69%) people said yes. Action: We have become aware through the Bigbury News of a couple of ideas being mooted and perhaps all interested parties should pool their resources so that a communal project can be established. Any interested parties should attend the Public Meeting on the 15th April.
The majority of the people 143 (61%) want to plant trees, 126 (54%) suggest a village party and 107 (46%) want extra seating.
There were a number of other suggestions and strong support was given for an Illustrated Map or some permanent feature.