[DF&F Main Menu] [Community Profiles Menu] [Community Appraisals Menu] Sydenham Damerel Parish Appraisal 1998 Index Voluntary Work 37 or 22% of respondents indicated current involvement with voluntary work of some kind. 135 do not. 18 people have volunteered to help with driving 23 people have volunteered to help with environmental work 20 have volunteered to help with millennium projects 10 people have volunteered to help with anything Recommendation That the names of volunteers be provided to the Parish Council who should then assess the needs for voluntary services and contact the volunteers as required. Index Top Parish Council A clear majority of respondents are unaware of who their local government representatives are, whether Parish, District or County. The same applies to the performance of the Parish Council. 85% of the 99 people who expressed an opinion would not support any proposal to amalgamate the parish with other parish(es). Recommendation The Parish Council should take steps to make residents more aware of its composition, activity and spending. ‘Parish Council needs a much higher profile backed by quality information. Far too many areas of the countryside are inaccessible and the Parish Council needs to be seen to act.’ Index Top Employment Of the 31 running a business, 12 are in agriculture, 5 in construction, 4 in professional services, 3 in catering/tourism and 2 in retail/repairs. 9 people are intending to become self-employed. Among barriers to self-employment, 12 cited finance, premises and ‘other issues’, 6 cited lack of business skills, 5 lack of technical skills, 9 lack of contacts and 5 lack of confidence. Index Top Environment There was a general consensus across a wide range of issues, that countryside improvements are worth doing and important 74% of people see hedge preservation, 62% see litter removal and 59% of people see footpath maintenance as very important. There were a wide range of other suggestions for improving the environment including creation of woods and tree planting generally, more phone boxes, creating new bridleways and footpaths and keeping existing ones open, provision of seats as rest stops at strategic places. ‘Preserve essential characteristics of rural beauty but beware those who would create a ‘rural museum’ ‘Open access to common, Moors and riverbanks’ ‘Proper response to Wild Flower development at roadside by Highways Authority, cutting only for safety requirements’ ‘There is no litter bin in the lay-by on the B3662, and the litter is disgusting, ‘Low flying aircraft scare horses when being ridden’ ‘…outsiders are moving in and trying to take over…’ Index Top Pollution 79% of the people see litter as a problem and 68% see traffic pollution as a problem (reflecting what is reported above). Whilst noise pollution was not considered a problem by 54% of people, there were a considerable number of concerns expressed in writing over noise from Jet aircraft. Also, some people are obviously having problems with noisy dogs and children! Despite being a traditional agricultural area, there are some people who are not happy with the inevitable noise and mess created by this industry. Recommendations A consideration of some of the proposals for improvements should be part of any Parish Council millennium plans. That the Parish Council write to the MOD expressing unhappiness with low flying aircraft. The Parish News could be a forum to remind people of their responsibilities to be considerate to neighbours. [Previous Page][Index][Next Page] [DF&F Main Menu] [Community Profiles Menu] [Community Appraisals Menu] [Top of Page] [Devon C.C. Homepage] Page Created: April 2002 This Information was provided by Corporate Information Services Send any comments, enquiries, etc. to DRIS@devon.gov.uk