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High Bickington Parish
Appraisal 2001
Summary of Free Text Comments
The
free text comments support the findings of the statistical analysis of the
appraisal. The main issues concerning
residents of High Bickington are the need for a new and larger primary school
and village hall, the volume of traffic passing through the village and the
number of cars within the village, the need for housing for local people,
concern that the village will be overdeveloped and the future for Little
Bickington Farm.
The
majority of respondents feel that the primary school is outdated and cannot
provide for the needs and number of children attending. Many are particularly critical of the small
hard-surfaced playground, the poor kitchen and toilet facilities and the
unsuitable classrooms. They are also
concerned that the playing field is too far from the school. Most people responding to the appraisal say
that Little Bickington Farm site would be an ideal site for a new school.
Many
people also identify a need for a new village hall in High Bickington. The current hall in the centre of High
Bickington village is considered too small and old to cope with the number of
people wishing to use it and the range of activities. Little Bickington Farm is viewed as the most suitable location to
site the new village hall by most respondents, although some people consider
the alternative site at Mill Road, Barton Meadow to be better.
Traffic
and parking issues are mentioned by many people in the free text sections of
the appraisal. Most seem concerned
about the volume of traffic passing through High Bickington on the B3217,
parking on pavements and roadsides, the lack of a car park, the lack of
pavements, and size of heavy goods vehicles.
Many people say any development at Little Bickington Farm must include
car parking.
Housing
issues are raised by many High Bickington residents. People feel strongly that any future housing development in the
village must be affordable for local people.
Recent luxury developments have obviously caused some bad feeling in the
village as the high price of homes has excluded local families and brought a
large number of new people to the village.
Villagers are concerned that the good qualities of High Bickington will
be lost if large scale housing developments are permitted.
The
future for Little Bickington Farm is an emotive issue and there is some feeling
that the farm should remain a farm.
Others believe the site represents a major opportunity and can be used
to benefit the village. Suggestions for
the site include building a new school and community hall with car parking
facilities, providing a playing field and play area, planting community
woodland and making a public footpath to the old playing field. The most popular suggestions for use of the
farm buildings include converting them to affordable housing for local people
and developing some as craft workshops and light industrial units.
The overwhelming feeling from the appraisal is the enormous affection that residents have for High Bickington village and parish and the pleasure people get from living here.
Introduction
In
August 2001, 295 parish appraisal questionnaires were distributed to households
in High Bickington parish. The High
Bickington Community Appraisal seeks to assess the needs of the village and
parish in terms of housing, transport, education and environment. 211 households returned completed
questionnaires representing a very high return rate of 72%.
The
statistical analysis of the questionnaire was carried out by an independent
statistician from Devon County Council.
Percentages given in this report represent the proportion of people who
answered that particular question and not the percentage of the total number of
people who took part in the appraisal.
This
report is an analysis of the free text comments invited in the appraisal. In many cases these were supplementary to
the statistical analysis and needed to be put in context with the statistical
findings. Some questions resulted in
purely statistical responses and some invited solely free text comments. Respondents often returned to the principal
areas of concern such as housing, the school and traffic, throughout the
appraisal whenever there was an opportunity to insert free text.
Households
Q 1. Household Size
The
number of people making up households in High Bickington parish varies between
one and seven. Nearly 50% of households
(104) in the parish consist of two people, 19% (40) are single and 23% (49) are
three or four person households.
Q 2. Age and Gender
512
people in the parish took part in the appraisal, 259 males and 247
females. 19% of people (98 people)
living in High Bickington are aged 16 or younger. 27% of people (138 people) living in the parish are aged 60 or
over. There are more males than females
under the age of 21 and above the age of 60.
Q 3. Ownership of Vehicles
The
211 households which completed the appraisal own 328 cars and 13
motorcycles. 183 vehicles are used to
travel to work or education each weekday.
According to the survey, about 40% of the cars are parked in a garage,
51% are parked off the road and 9% (29 vehicles) are parked on the road.
Q 4. Alternative Accommodation
20
households in High Bickington parish have one or more members needing
alternative accommodation. Nine people
need new accommodation now, 11 people say they will need it in the next 3 years
and a further 12 will need alternative accommodation in 4-12 years time.
The
accommodation needed includes nine starter homes to buy, three starter homes to
rent, four family homes to buy, four self-build projects, two sheltered housing
units and one residential care place.
Two other accommodation needs identified in the appraisal are change
from business to residential use for an existing structure, and “affordable
housing”.
Q 5. Ability to Move
The
appraisal asked why people are unable to move to the accommodation they
need. A total of 35 people replied to
this question. 16 give price as the
reason, 12 say lack of suitable housing stock, three say lack of local
authority housing, another three say lack of other rented accommodation, and
one person comments that they are “currently not allowed by the local
authority”.
Q 6. Energy Saving Features
Loft
insulation is the most popular energy saving feature in properties in High Bickington. Of the 211 households surveyed, 182 (86%)
have loft insulation, while 29 properties do not. 175 households (83%) have double or secondary glazing, 36
properties have neither double nor secondary glazing. 174 (82%) houses have lagged hot water tanks, and 37 properties
do not. 54 properties (26%) have cavity
wall insulation, while 157 do not have it.
Two households have some form of solar energy in their houses.
Other
energy saving features listed include a wood burning cooker, a combination
boiler, thick cob and stone walls, low energy light bulbs, draught excluders on
all external doors and windows, warm floor insulation, and two people said they
have insulation blocks in the external walls.
Four
households say they have no energy saving features in their properties.
Q 7. Movement from Parish
16
people say that a member of their household has moved from the village in the
last five years. The appraisal asked
the reason for the move; six people say lack of employment, four people say lack
of suitable housing and eight people give other reasons for moving from the
parish. These include divorce, that the
person was a publican, for employment opportunities, to work abroad, because of
transport (either distance or lack of) to/from work, that the person was living
in a tied cottage and retired, to go to university, and for education.
Q 8. Sending Children to Primary School.
16
families with pre-school children intend to send their children to High
Bickington Primary School. One person
will send their children to Umberleigh Primary School. Six other replies include two families who
want to send their children to St Michael’s in Tawstock, one to Chulmleigh
School, one Torrington, one is undecided between Beaford and High Bickington
and one intends to send their children to High Bickington play school.
Q 9. After School Activities.
20
people say their children cannot take part in after school activities for some
reason. Six families say lack of public
transport prevents them. A further six
households say the distance between home and school is the problem. Three give road safety hazards as a reason,
and five say that no suitable activities are offered.
Q10 and Q11.
Question
10 ‘What is your sex?’ and Question 11 ‘What age band do you belong to?’ repeat
Question 2, but generate different answers since 506 people responded to
Question 2, but only 425 people answered Questions 10 and 11.
Education
Q 12. Vocational and Adult Training
188
people (47%) replying to the questionnaire would like vocational/adult training
opportunities now or in the future. New
technology or computer training is the popular subject, with 121 people
expressing interest. 54 people are
interested in skilled or craft training, 30 in professional or managerial
training, 24 in rural and agricultural skills, 18 in clerical or secretarial
training, 11 in technical subjects, and four in supervisory.
17
people say they are looking for training in other areas, including counselling
and social care (three people), child related courses and childcare (two),
languages (two), policing, bookkeeping, teaching certificate, cookery, welding,
sport, and first aid. Two others
mention hobbies in general or say they would consider any training. One person does not specify the type of
training.
Barnstaple
is the most popular training centre, 154 people (82%) say that they could get
there. 120 people (64%) can reach
Torrington, 109 people (58%) can reach Chulmleigh, 70 can reach Bideford and 39
say they can travel to Exeter. 9 people
say they cannot reach any of these centres.
Q 13. High Bickington Primary School
383
respondents (94.5%) say that the primary school is important or very
important. Only three people consider
it not very important. 19 say they have
no opinion.
Q 14. Nursery Class for 3 Year Olds
232
people (58%) say High Bickington needs a nursery class for three year
olds. 37 respondents (9%) say it does
not, of which two commented “no,
because we have nursery facilities in the village at present, ” and “a
good community run playgroup in most cases is particularly beneficial - we must
guard against pushing children into a school atmosphere too early or for our
own convenience.”
Q 15. School Buildings
235
people (57%) say the current school buildings are unsuitable compared with 48
people (12%) who think they are adequate.
Of the 97 unprompted quotes only two people consider that the current
school is “fine at the moment”.
Overwhelmingly, the school needs “modern buildings and technology with
integral playground and car parking” and “better sports facilities”.
The
additional comments are very consistent about the poor facilities. 53 people comment that the school building
is too old, too small and inadequate for present day educational needs. Other criticisms about the building include
the lack of assembly hall, lack of gym, inferior or absent library, poor dining
facilities and the inadequate toilets facilities.
25
people say that the classrooms are cramped, noisy and unsuitable for today’s curriculum
(especially science and technology) or for practical activities.
38
people comment that the play area by the school is inadequate: “the playground
is too small for the number of children who use it”
Other
concerns about the playground include the lack of places for children to sit or
have outside lessons, the dangerous surface and lack of grass area, and that
the fence is too low for ball games.
28
people say that the sports field is too far away from the school for safe and
easy reach.
The
location of the school near the centre of the village is also criticised, in
particular the dangerous entrance and number of cars outside at the beginning
and end of the school day.
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Page Created: December 2002
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