The main interest appears to be for Computing, Badminton, Gardening, Local History, Music, Natural History and Tennis. Smaller groups may be viable for Art, Languages, Dance and Drama if an interested teacher could be found and participants were prepared to pay a reasonable fee.

16. That the people who wish to, should form groups to pursue their chosen activity.
17. That the Parish Council considers producing a leaflet for visitors and putting up an information board.

TRAFFIC, TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS

The 127 households who responded have 223 cars and 30 motorbikes. Most cars are parked off the road or in a garage (152). Only 17 park in a public car park leaving 68 parked on the road. Not surprisingly, 138 drivers (57%) experience parking problems, while 103 never do. The figures show no clear bias for any particular area, although comments suggest that parking for the school run may cause difficulty. There certainly appears to be a need for more parking places.

Four households in Teign Village and one in Hennock have no car, and these may face transport difficulties that could be alleviated by adopting the ‘good Neighbour’ scheme mentioned earlier.

Most people feel that there is a need for road signs in the village: only 18% feel that none are needed. 70% would like a speed limit introduced: for Teign Village alone that rose to 94%. ’Please Drive Slowly’ signs are favoured by 66% and speed limit signs by 51%. ‘Children at Play’ signs are also favoured by 51%, so there is definite concern over speed in all parts of the community.



On the whole, those in Hennock & Teign Village are more satisfied with the state of the roads, whilst those in outlying areas are not. Nearly all are satisfied with the directional road signs. Street lighting is generally considered adequate.



However a clear majority feel that there are danger spots within the village.

Those named most often were: outside the school (mentioned 10 times); between Meadowbrook and Shute Cottage (9), Bell Lane & outside the Palk Arms (7) and outside Teign Village playpark (6). Butt Park and Road Park between them scored seven hits. Five Lanes, the narrows by Hele Farm/West Hele, the top end of Stickwick Hill, and the road below Leigh Farm were each mentioned five times.

HGVs are felt to be a problem by 62%, mainly in Hennock (70%).

Danger spots are everywhere because of the speed & a lot of vehicles

There is always a danger on roads

Recommendations:

18. That the Parish Council sets up a working party to investigate and improve the safety of those areas identified as Danger Spots.
19. That the Parish Council seeks to improve parking facilities.
20. That the Parish Council, the District Council and the local County Councillor jointly present a case to the Local Services Group for the introduction of Speed Limits and HGV restrictions.

BUS SERVICES

Most would like the existing service to be improved. Of the 142 respondents, 83% would like improvements to the routes, and further improvements were needed to the timetable, reliability and cost. Preferred destinations would be to Bovey Tracey, with Newton Abbot a close second, and then to Exeter, Chudleigh, and Kingsteignton. There was one request for a service between Teign Village and Hennock. Friday and Saturday were the preferred days for travel, but more than a quarter would like a service every day.

It is clear that the existing service is regarded by those that use it as totally inadequate for the present needs of our community, who were not consulted before it was introduced. A petition has been passed to the District Council asking that the matter be given urgent attention, taking into account the requests for improvement.

Recommendation:

21. That the Parish Council monitors the progress of the petition and make representations to the District Council to improve the service so that it more closely matches the needs of the community.

FUNDING SUGGESTIONS

There is strong support for improvements to the community to be funded from within. Fundraising, sponsorship and to a smaller extent, private contributions all found favour, with very little enthusiasm for any increases to Council Tax. However, there is a limit to the amount of money that a small community like ours can draw on so it may be prudent to seek to fund the larger projects (i.e. those which will benefit everyone) through the local authorities and whatever grants may be available. This reserves community cash for smaller initiatives in which only a section of the community may wish to take part.

Lottery funding

EEC

Recommendations:

22. That any improvements to the infrastructure of the village are funded by the local authorities and whatever grants may be available.
23. That any other activity arising as a result of this appraisal should be self-financing as far as possible.

CONCLUSION

Some didn’t wish to be involved, or had no opinion on matters of change, so presumably these people are happy, and wish to leave well alone. Of the remainder, most would prefer that housing remain more or less the same except maybe a small increase in housing for local people.

There is a lot of demand for both villages to be cleaner and visually more attractive; some areas are mentioned repeatedly.

Volume of traffic and therefore road safety is of major concern and requests are for speed restrictions through both villages and the surrounding lanes. A reduction in HGVs would also be welcomed. A sensibly routed and better timed bus service would make life easier for many, and may help reduce daytime traffic.

So, small seems to be the ideal - "We wish to remain villages and not become towns".

A total of 23 recommendations have been made through this appraisal, and it is important that we do not lose sight of them. Therefore the Appraisal Steering Group make a final recommendation that

Recommendation:

24. That the Parish Council be responsible for monitoring the progress of these recommendations at their meetings, and regularly reporting to the community on each one. Suitable media may be the quarterly ‘What’s on in Hennock & Teign Village’ newsletter, the local press, or by posting update reports on village notice boards. At the end of November 2000 they should review all the recommendations and report their findings to all the community through a one-off news sheet.