There was a very clear and generally common response to the questions asking about what sort of place we want our parish to be.

An astonishingly high number of people (103) said they would like to be involved in producing a parish design statement, which incorporated architectural features and landscape plans. The Appraisal Committee suggests that a public meeting is held to enable the creation of the Design Group, which could then set its own terms of reference to consider in detail the findings of the Appraisal and how to relate to the existing planning process. Some interesting statistics give a flavour of the kind of place that we want and the nature of the problems we see:

• 94.5% of those who answered wanted existing green spaces retained
• 91.4% wanted to be involved in planning control over location of new houses and 79% over their design
• Over half of us thought there should be building conservation areas in the parish
• Half the respondents had no opinion about street lighting, but a quarter of us wanted more and a quarter wanted less! Over three quarters wanted to increase the numbers of trees in the parish, preserve old trees and orchards and plant new ones, and over half wanted to plant new fruit trees, build more stone walls and create more hedges.

Our cycle paths and footpaths seem to be used for the same purposes, including dog exercising.

• One third of us thought dog mess was a problem and a third did not
• Half of those who answered the question about Cott Road ramp and Newman Crescent thought they should be improved visually

Just under half the respondents thought the village facilities were adequate, and a third had no opinion. Of those suggesting how things could be improved, many focused on facilities for young people. However, there seems to be a difference between the needs identified by young people themselves and those that others think they need. Also, there is probably less real demand than perceived need.

There was strong opinion for the need to protect the Bidwell Valley (661 people) and Yarner Beacon (607 people).

Bridleways, footpaths and country lanes were seen as most important to our local countryside. A Village Green and parks and gardens were also liked a lot by the majority of people responding, followed closely by archaelogical and architectural features, together with churchyards and sports fields.

Within the parish there are many people willing to put energy into protecting and enhancing our community.

There was a lot of interest in the questions to do with housing: over 80% of the respondents tackled this section.

Of those expressing an opinion, over 77% (600) thought more houses would spoil the parish.

• 31% (276) of those answering thought that no housing was needed
• 41% (376) thought local people might need housing.
• 25% (231) thought young people particularly might need housing.

This perception of housing need may be different from the actual need.

In terms of actual need, 81 people said that someone in their family was in need of alternative accommodation; 135 within the next 10 years, 26 being in immediate need. The majority need was for starter homes to buy or rent.

68% of those who answered said they wouldn't have objections to housing specifically for local people, but 24% of the respondents said they would object.

Elsewhere in the questionnaire, concerns were expressed by a significant number about the danger of Dartington becoming a suburb of Totnes. In addition, reference was made to the need to discourage holiday homes and to ensure that the character of the housing was sensitive to its location.

The questions relating to traffic, transport and road safety also attracted a high response rate. The Parish is divided by several major traffic routes. Respondents expressed strong opinions on how to balance the needs of local residents with the quite different needs of passing motor traffic.

• 79% of those with an opinion would like to see speed restrictions.
• 81% of those expressing an opinion think the parish needs pedestrian crossings, mainly centred upon Shinners Bridge.

Danger spots were identified throughout the parish, but most were identified around the Shinners Bridge area.

• 59% are against the introduction of more parking restrictions.

More than half support the humps in Cott Road, but the question elicited very strong comments. They refer to safety issues, discomfort, pollution problems, e.g. noise and the excessive lighting that has accompanied the introduction of the humps.

Responses were encouraging with relation to provision of community transport

• 71% indicated they would use a community bus often or occasionally if it were provided.
• 67% would use a local taxi
• 30% would use a car share scheme

	Often	Occasionally
Would Use Community Bus	143	355
Would Use Local Taxi	74	344
Would Use Car Share Scheme	46	131

407 people said that they would never use a car share scheme.

85% of respondents would like to see improved time-tabling of Public Transport. Just over half would like to see improvements in routes. There were many comments on the high cost and the earliness of the last evening bus, as well as the difficulty experienced in reading the time-tables.

Many people said that they walk to the village facilities.

854 people replied to the question about whether there should be more or less street lighting. 480 expressed no opinion, the rest were evenly split for and against, the "Iess" answer having a majority of 8.

45% said that there were not enough cycle paths and 25% said there were enough.