Sport, Social & Entertainment

Opinions of local play, recreational and social facilities

These facilities are reported as poor for the under 24 age group, reasonable for the 25's to 60's but split between poor and reasonable for the over 60's. This does not say much for the facilities available and there is obviously room for improvement.

Should St. Giles have a childrens play area?

There was an overwhelming YES vote for a Play Area in St. Giles, some 237 (77%) responding in favour. Some people had difficulty in deciding just where to Play Area should be sited and suggested more than one site and 62 people, whilst agreeing that there should be a Play Area, did not offer any suggestiond as to where it should be sited.

35 persons sugested by the side or at the rear of the Parish Hall, 109 proposed the central field next to the church. The Green was suggested by 22 people and Stevenstone Park by 9. Other suggestions included "Where it does not worry anybody as they do now", "Anywhere where there is ease of access", "Anywhere where a site is available" and "Somewhere where the children can be seen at all times". There were two suggestions for a play area in Kingscott.

Use of Sporting Facilties outside St Giles in the Wood

The use of facilities outside St. Giles provided some interesting answers. 35 people often swim outside St. Giles whilst 100 do so occasionally (This is not surprising as there is no public swimming pool in St. Giles). Cricket is played within the Parish but also outside the village by 31 people evenly split between "Often" and "Occasionally".
Some facilities under the "Other" category included Netball (6 persons). Badiminton (8). Squash (4), Indoor Bowls (4) and Golf (6). many other facilities, too numerous to list here, were also mentioned including Aerobics, Keep Fit, Tai Chin, Karate etc.etc.

Do these facilities need to be expanded?

There is a definate demand for facilities within the Parish to be expanded with 214 (81%) of respondnets replying YES to this question. It is without question that the most popular facility would be a childrens play area which was ticked by 146 people (73%). Over 30% mentioned Badminton, Cricket and Keep Fit. Support was in fact given for all the options listed which gives considerable food for thought though some of the suggestions are not viable proposition for this area.

How often do parishoners use the Parish Hall.

The Parish hall is used between 1 & 5 times a month by 156 people but 146 use it infrequently and 99 people do not use it at all. This last group may of course live farthest away from the Village. However 156 people consider the Parish Hall to be adequate though 65 think it is inadequate. On the question of upgrading the hall, only 4 people completed this section of whom 3 felt that kitchens needed to be upgraded and 1 felt the toilets should be improved.

Are you in favour of an amalgamation of the Social Club and the Parish Hall?

There are 120 people in favour of an amalgamation of the Sports Club and the Parish Hall with 30 against, 127 had no opinion. the question now of course is how many of each persuasion actually use one or both facilities. A really thorny question!

Are public toilets required in the village.

There where 288 replies to this item of whom 166 said YES, 115 said NO whilst 57 had no opinion.
Must be the water!

Transport & Highways

Difficulty in getting out of St. Giles.

Getting out of St. Giles is often difficult for 27 people, occasionally difficult for 49 but never difficult for 218 people who presumably have access to a car!

Would you use a voluntary car service if available?

7 people would often use the service and 71 occasionally but 191 would never use it. There certainly appears to be a need for such a scheme.

Is the bus your only means of transport?

Only 12 people use the existing bus service as their main means of transport. Why is this when 27 people often have difficulty and 49 have occasional diffculty. Is it because the Bus Service does not go where they want to go? Might be - see next comment.

If YES, for which purpose would you use it and how often?

The low numbers suggest that the bus service - twice weekly, so if you miss the first you have along wait for the next - is not the most popular means of transport.

Opinion of bus service

62% of the respondents think the bus service is poor and 77% think the timetable is poor. No doubt about there being a problem but how can it be solved? Should we look at this topic in greater depth?

Is there a speeding problem in St. Giles

There is obviously a problem regarding traffic speeding as 152 think so, 71 do not and 80 have no opinion. Of course, answering this question depends very much on where you live and the village is not the only possible area where this problem occurs.

Does street parking present a problem?

Opinion on whether there is a parking problem was evenly split (115 YES's and 115 NO's). There were 80 without an opinion. Again it depends where you live but sometimes street parking does slo traffic down.