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7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Questions were asked about the effectiveness of local government at:
Devon County, South Hams District and Kingsbridge Town levels.
- Very few, between 2% - 6%, saw any level as very effective. Between 47% - 50% saw satisfactory levels of effectiveness. Between 23% - 24% saw poor levels of performance.
"The town council need to develop a more user friendly role in order for people to approach and use effectively"
"Less cronyism"
Suggestions for improvement of Town Council effectiveness included:
more publicity about decisions - 57%
more awareness of local concerns - 69%
more encouragement of young people’s involvement - 49%
more public meetings - 41%
Recommendation
: The Town Council should address the above suggestions.
Responses to the question asking for opinions about the standard of Emergency Services varied widely.
| Good | Reasonable | Poor | |
| Fire Service | 73% | 14% | 1% |
| Ambulance Service | 64% | 20% | 2% |
| Coastguard Service | 48% | 14% | 2% |
| Police Service | 33% | 38% | 20% |
- Of 2118 respondents, 1407 had not been a victim of crime, but 428 had suffered Criminal Damage, 189 Burglary, 167 Car Theft and 78 Physical Assault.
- 621 (85%) of Crime victims had reported the offence to the Police, but 110 (15%) had not. 35% had found it easy to contact the local Police Station but 52% found it difficult and 12% had found it impossible.
- 624 people expressed the wish to join a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.
"I was nearly killed by a speeding lorry"
"They never seem to answer the phone"
Recommendation
: The above findings should be drawn to the attention of the emergency services for their consideration and action where appropriate, and to Neighbourhood Watch for more publicity.Recommendation: The Police should respond to the range of suggestions for improvements to the service.
Responses to these questions showed that
Of those working or studying
- 19% did so at home.
- 47% elsewhere in the town.
- 14% within ten miles of Kingsbridge.
- Just 5% worked or studied further than 30 miles away.
More Training (46%) and More Employer Incentives (63%) were the major suggestions for increasing Employment Opportunities. Improved Road Access (34%) and Extending Tourist Season (21%) were other areas endorsed.
- 126 people are seeking paid Employment.
- 256 people run a Kingsbridge business. They employ 497.
- The majority of businesses employ only the owner (44%), one other (19%) or two others (10%).
- The largest business category is Construction (21%), followed by Professional Services (21%), Retail and Repairs (15%) and Services (13%). Only 6% of businesses were in Agriculture.
- 51 (3%) respondents intend to become self employed in the next 12 months but
- 252 felt restricted by lack of start up finance, 154 by lack of Business Premises, 95 by lack of necessary business skills and 84 by lack of confidence.
"More full time work with a decent wage"
Conversely, many people, 474, already perform unpaid Voluntary Work across a wide area, ranging from fundraising for charities to working with young people, animals, environmental projects, artistic, dramatic and local history initiatives, hospital visiting and Talking Tapes for the blind.
Recommendation
: PROSPER should be invited to address the barriers to business start-ups in the locality.Of 2367 replies, 1496 (63%) were in favour of adopting a Millennium project. The two front running suggestions were for:
- Holding organised parties - 616
- Creating a Millennium garden - 613
Other suggestions included marking the occasion with a living memorial
- By planting trees - 525
- By creating a community orchard - 229
- 360 would like to create a Millennium open space.
"Cancel the Millennium"
"A project which promotes the positive contributions of Kingsbridge youth"
Recommendation
: To anyone who is interested there is significant demand for millennium events and projects - but time is running short!General
An action plan should be drawn together by the Town Centre Action Group in response to all of the above recommendations
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Page Created: June 2000
This Information was provided by Corporate Information Services
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