Introduction

The St. Giles in the Wood Appraisal was delivered to 225 known addresses within the Parish and 175 households returned the forms - a response of 77.8%. The replies represented 368 people of whom 330 fell into the age 11+ group and therefore had the opportunity to respond to the questions. This was a response rate of 89.7% which, like that for returned forms, is above average for the County.

Part 1 - Household

Population

Most households have two members but those people who completed the form 47.6% were men and 52.4% women. The following is a breakdown of males and females aged 11 and over in 175 households.

Breakdown of population by area

Of the respondents over one third (39%) live in the village of St. Giles in the Woods, 21% in Kingscott, 6% at High Bullen, 5% in Leighty Water/Peagham Barton and 12% in Stevenstone whilst 17% live elsewhere in the Parish.

Part 2 - Personal

Proportion of males/females and age group

of the 324 who completed this section 152 (48%) are males and 170 (52%) females. These were spread fairly well over the age groups with the exception of the 11 to 21 year olds which were on the low side and may, in years to come, lead to an uneven populuation

Housing

Need for accommodation in the Parish

There are 14 households who currently need alternative accommodation and a further 3 households said that members of the household had moved out of the parish during the last five years because they were unable to find suitable alternative accommodation. Seven of these were looking for accommodation to buy.
Of the reasons given for not being able to move, the most frequently given reason (9 respondents) is a lack of Local Authority Housing. Five respondents indicated price and another five indicated lack of other rented accommodation as being the reason for not moving. It would seem that there is a need for further housing in the Parish.

A need for housing for local people is the opinion of 121 (41%) respondents and 79 (18%) think that it is needed for young people, 71 (16.5%) respondents do not feel that any housing is needed.

Education & Training

Need for Nursery/Pre-school facilities.

53 people feel that there is a need for a nursery/pre-school group in the village, 79 (57%) have no opinion whilst 7 (5%) saw no need for such a group. 20 respondents said they would support a nursery/pre-school group which would lead to an attendence of 16 children

Opinions as to standard of Adult Education in parish.

Opinion on this question was divided 114 (38%) think it is reasonable, 43 (14%) think it good and 58 (20%) think it poor. Room for improvement?

Qualifications held by Parishioners.

Interest in vocational training and training courses required.

In all 80 persons would be interested in taking some form of vocational training, needs were split fairly evenly - 17% were interested in Professinla/Managerial training, 10% in Clerical/Secretarial, 22% in Skilled/Craft related subjects, 10% in Rural/Agricultural skills and 38% in New technology/Computing. Is there a drift away from local skills such as farming?

90% are able to get to Torrington for training whilst 59%, 67% and 48% were able to get to Bideford, Barnstaple and South Molton respectively.

Health & Social Services

Use of Health and Social Services.

The Doctors Surgeries are used by 90% or respondents and 22% use the District Nurse. All oter facilities listed are used by under 20% of the respondents. The meals on wheels service is not used by anyone in the Parish. Is this because (a) the meals are not too good (b) the service is not well known enought or (c) our older residents are quite capable of preparing their own meals.

Opinions as to the standard of Social Services available.

There are 14 people who feel that the standard of five of the services was poor, but in the main people seem to be fairly happy with the various services supplied. 199 people assessed the services of the doctor as good and in general all services were well regarded.

Difficulty in getting to available services.

Problems getting to the Dentist have been experienced by 83 (32%) of respondents, which is of course not surprising as currently there is no dentist - National Health or Private - within easy reach of the Parish. Aainst this figure 135 (52%) have no trouble at all.

Retail Services & Other Facilities

Difficulty in getting to local shops.

Thirty five (12%) people experienced diffculty in reaching shops. Age? Transport?

Need for retail/services outlets in the Parish.

A Sub Post Office in the village is the view of 230 (95%) resohdents and 140 (58%) people feel that a none perishable grocery store is neeeded.

Is there a need for a community shop?

Yes, say 56 people who would use it often and 176 who would use it occasionally.

Interest in running a community shop if one was set up.

Nevertheless there are 35 people (two of whom gave their name and address) who would be happy to help run a community shop.

The above results will need further investigation to ascertain viability.