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St. Giles On The Heath Community Appraisal
Transport
106 people experience transport difficulties in getting out of St. Giles. 40 of these often.
181 would use a community minibus service, 40 of these often.
35 people would be prepared to help provide a voluntary transport service using their own vehicles.
Recommendation 1:
Since 1 person has persistent difficulty in getting to hospital (see below) and 41 say they sometimes have difficulty in getting to medical services, Parish Council should explore with Ian Hobbs, the District Manager of Torridge Social Services, the establishment of a voluntary transport service.Recommendation 2: On the basis of the figures a community minibus service might well be viable. The problems and possibilities of running such a service should also be discussed with Ian Hobbs.
Medical Services
As for NHS Dentists, you stand more chance of getting a walkabout on the moon.
Quality:
The Doctor, District Nurse, the non-emergency ambulance and the loan of medical equipment are all reported as good.
There does appear to be a problem in respect of the number of people expressing dissatisfaction with the services of chiropody, home help, care manager, meals on wheels and day care.
Opinion on other medical services is divided.
Accessibility:
Getting to an NHS dentist is a problem for 41 respondents.
41 people said that getting to the hospital is sometimes difficult and for 1 person it is a persistent problem.
Over 20 people also have difficulty in getting to the doctor, chemist and optician. (See Transport).
Recommendation:
The transport problems have been referred to above. In relation to the quality problems it is recommended that Parish Council discuss the issue with Social Services and also table it with the Holsworthy Area Advisory Group of Torridge District to see if other parishes in the area are aware of similar levels of dissatisfaction.The lack of finances being spent on the parish eg. footpaths, lighting, traffic speeding, lack of police presence is a disgrace. So I hope the appraisal will improve things.
Further Housing Development
63% (158) of those expressing an opinion want the housing stock to remain the same. 16% (40) would like to see an increase of up to 10 houses and 20% (51) favour an increase of more than this.
St Giles on the Heath is a poorly integrated village, it needs time and encouragement to become a viable community before it is allowed to grow.
Those people identifying a need for further housing favoured housing for local people and for the disabled, the young, the elderly and those on low income.
5 households stated that they are in need of alternative accommodation now; 3 in the next 3 years, and 18 in less than 10 years.
Recommendation:
Parish Council are asked to relay this information to Torridge District Council so that it can, if possible, be considered as part of the Local Area Plan which is currently in its final stages.Emergency
The fire service gets the best report. 54% of those expressing an opinion say it is good. A further 41 % see it as reasonable.
The ambulance service and Kernowdoc are both seen as reasonable to good by over 314 of those expressing an opinion.
Opinion is divided about the police force with 69% seeing it as reasonable to good and 31 % seeing it as poor (46 people).
Recommendation:
This question tested opinion or perception of these services, not necessarily actual experience. Nevertheless the apparent concern with the Police Force is reinforced by the fact that a large number of people (135) stated that they wished to see an improvement in policing.The reinstatement of Neighbourhood Watch may well form the basis for improved liaison between the Police Force and the Community. Notwithstanding this Parish Council should inform the Police Force of these concerns.
General
We are the forgotten village regarding most services... I feel very strongly about these things and do hope something will come out of this appraisal.
The survey produced additional information such as the number of people in each household, their age and sex, the number of cars and motorcycles etc. It also provided information on whether the respondents were employed, retired, etc.
It was decided not to detract from the major issues identified in the survey by including this information in this report. For those who are interested in seeing the full data produced by the appraisal, copies are available from the Village Shop/Post Office.
We apologise to anyone who feels that we have failed to reflect a particular point that they made in the appraisal. We have done our best to include in the margin quotations which give a fair reflection of the various opinions that were expressed. However, to have included every comment and suggestion would have made this report far too unwieldy. We sincerely hope that in the near future the newsletter will provide an appropriate forum for everyone's thoughts and suggestions.
Offers of Help and Enquiries
Contact any of the following:
Alan Lewens |
01566 773036 |
Julie Parsons |
01566 772429 |
Mervyn Hutchings |
01566 776577 |
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Page Created: May 2002
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