There was a good level of support for the question on Clubs and Activities, making each activity potentially viable.

There was a range of other activities suggested, the most popular was keep fit or aerobics; also yoga, slimming, football, cricket and petanque, dance, photography, environmental activities and a baby-sitting network.

The above responses offer a real opportunity, demonstrating the will for an explosion of leisure activities in our village.

If Adult Education classes were arranged there appears to be enough support to demonstrate viability –
119 would attend Computer, 65 Languages, 72 Crafts, 72 Local History, 23 Creative Writing.

301 people (76%) thought the Primary School should be available out of school hours.

93% of those responding thought that more use should be made of the Playing Field during the holidays, with 114 people supporting the fitting of a Basket Ball practice net. Other suggestions included cricket, multi-use courts, flat area for skating, football team and a village fete.

Opinion of the quality of the Children’s Playground was balanced. 37% thought it reasonable, with 13% declaring it good, and 13% declaring it poor. There was some support for more equipment – sandpit, slide, climbing frame.

There is a level of dissatisfaction with our social facilities for the younger age groups.

	Good	Reasonable	Poor	No opinion	Total
Up to 16s	5	58	178	84	325
17-25s	0	31	173	100	304
26-60s	16	93	95	103	307
Over 60s	42	103	73	100	318

Perhaps improvements will follow if the above activities get off the ground.

Responses suggest that communication is not what it should be, as 52% are not aware of the facilities at the Rewe and Stoke Canon Youth Club. 44% of respondents do not know what is on at the Jubilee Hall, and 62% aren’t aware of the activities at the Rewe Social Club.

It appears that most people (81%) use the Notice Board and/or Forum Magazine for information. 57% relied on word of mouth, 42% the Post Office, and only 11% local newspapers.

As might be expected, the questions posed regarding crime, safety and anti-social behaviour in the village solicited a big response.

The major concerns were of vandalism, theft and car theft. No fewer than 228 people (75% of respondents) were concerned about vandalism in the village, 175 people were concerned about theft (57% of respondents) and 148 were concerned about car theft (48% of respondents).

Although there were some concerns expressed about muggings and drunkenness, these only accounted for 5% and 15% of respondents respectively.

Many people appeared concerned about the number of children wandering around in the evenings, sometimes quite late, making a noise, drinking in the churchyard and in particular the use/abuse of the bus shelter in the evenings.

One thing that can help the fight against crime and vandalism in the community is a healthy and active Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. 309 residents considered there was insufficient information available to them about the local Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, 110 stated they would be interested in joining and 318 (92%) did not know who the organisers were.

121 people had attended a monthly Parish Council meeting, and 69 had been along to an Annual Parish Meeting. Most people (305) had never attended any meetings.

Following on from that, the next question was how well does the Parish Council publicise its decisions and activities. 32 thought they were well publicised, 115 reasonable, and the highest figure (153) thought the publicity was poor.

As is probably to be expected, few residents (43) actually work in Stoke Canon, while over 200 have to travel to their work.

The question of small business development or industrial workshops brought a very mixed response. Those in favour or strongly in favour of development (160) and those less enthusiastic (139) were opposed by 52 definitely against. Likewise, the workshops received strong support from 129, less support from 149, and 70 totally against. Almost all of the written-in comments stated that any industrial development should be at the Old Mill Estate and not in residential areas.

Recommendation: