What has already been achieved?
The collation of the Questionnaires has been completed and about 34,000 answers (many multi-part) had to be inputted into computers including those with text answers, a truly mammoth task and the reason for the delay in the plan coming out. A Youth Report has been compiled and presented in a James Bond Evening to the young people of the villages. Resulting from this, a youth club has been formed – The KAFY Club – with a grant of over £14,000 obtained from the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds. Young people played a major part in this process. The volunteer forms, which went out with the Questionnaires, have been acted upon in several instances. Meetings were arranged with the administrators of a Good Neighbour Scheme and a Community Responder Scheme for those interested. A local fireman volunteered to arrange free home fire safety checks in the village and visited The Community Lunch Club to explain what this was about. A separate report on the Church and Chapel results was sent to local church and chapel leaders and meetings to discuss the report have taken place.
Parish Plan – Brief Summary
Kirton, Falkenham and part of Trimley St Martin
2 October 2007 Issue 1
Outcomes from the Household Questionnaire
This short report summarises the main issues arising from answers to the Household Questionnaire which was distributed last year to every household in Falkenham, Kirton and the part of Trimley St Martin by the school. More detailed reports are available online at www.kirton-suffolk.info and paper copies of these may be obtained, in due course, from the Parish Clerk to view or purchase.
What else has been started?
The 3 Village Woodlands Group has been formed, with the assistance of the Green Light Trust, involving children from Trimley St Martin Primary School where there was a public launch event in October. This supports the value of woodland, trees and hedgerows highlighted in the responses to the environment questions.
The Response
It has taken the Steering Group longer than we expected to analyse all answers given in the three questionnaires (Youth, Household and Business). There are 575 households in the area and a team of volunteer distributors/collectors did a magnificent job in visiting each one. The result was a return of just under 75% (as % of households). 570 household questionnaires were issued and 440 returned, of which 427 were usable (nonblank). 5 empty households. The total number of people aged 16+ answering the questionnaire was 860 (372 female, 350 male, 138 not stated). The total number of question responses analysed was 33,671.
Reports produced
A Youth Report and Action Plan along with a summary have already been produced and are being acted upon by Young people in our area. The Household Questionnaire results are on the village website and a formal report and action plan is being prepared, together with an appendix with full details of all answers, along with a report on the Business Questionnaire. From written responses and the tick boxes, the main issues highlighted by the Questionnaires are:– local services or lack of them, crime and safety, building development, environment and transport, traffic & parking. There are also several opportunities to create new recreational & educational facilities within the villages.
What next? – Development of The Parish Plan
From the answers received we will be developing an Action Plan which, with the report, will be submitted to the Parish Council for its approval. We will then present the Plan to the village at an open meeting and comments from residents will be taken into account where possible. Copies of the Parish Plan will then be sent to interested parties (stakeholders) including Suffolk Coastal District Council, NHS, Suffolk Constabulary, etc.
Acknowledgements
The Parish Plan project could not have been started without advice from Suffolk ACRE, and financial support from DEFRA and the Parish Council. Then there are the people, the hard working volunteers on the Steering Committee and the Distributors and Collectors of the Questionnaires who ensured such a good return. But chiefly... yourselves! – the hundreds of people in our community who filled in what was quite a long Questionnaire.
Thank you!
The Steering Group
Geoff Christian, John Cole, Susan Harvey, Janice Hine, Lauren Hine, Trevor Matthews, Charles Posford, Martin Richmond-Hardy.
Printed by Flyer Press, Felixstowe
Supported by funding from Kirton & Falkenham Parish Council
Crime & Safety
Antisocial behaviour is of particular concern particularly in Kirton. A total of 75 respondents had been victims of it in the last five years. Theft/burglary/ robbery was relatively more common in Falkenham. Another problem was vehicle related crime a total of 71 incidents being reported mainly in Kirton. In contrast, assaults are very rare with only two reported. The Police presence was judged inadequate by the majority of respondents in Falkenham and Trimley. A total of 549 residents thought there were major hazard spots on roads in the villages. The main problems appeared to be parked cars on Falkenham Road, by the Green, and outside Trimley St Martin School, and cars turning at Innocence Lane/Back Road crossroads. Speeding traffic was also thought to be a problem and the most popular control measure was a flashing speed warning and its placement on Kirton / Trimley Road and in the school pick up area.
or it will be spoilt". 479 respondents wanted no increase in the building development envelope. Regarding a Design Code for developments in the village 256 respondents said yes and 111 said no with 57 indicating no opinion.
Education & Training
297 people expressed a desire for more education/ training (vocational and leisure) of whom 90 wished for adult education evening classes.
251 people stated they used the facilities of Felixstowe General Hospital in the past year. This compares with 329 who used Ipswich Hospital and highlights the need to retain the Felixstowe facility.
Environment
Disability Provision
Parish Council
689 residents felt the quality of the countryside around the Parish was very important, plus 136 felt it was important, with only 9 saying it was not very important. Local footpaths and bridle paths are well used: 490 respondents used them at least once a week and 185 at least once a month. The majority of respondents would like to see less litter in the villages and this includes dog litter and dog litter in plastic bags. 508 people said they would report fly tipping, 322 said they would confront/report the culprit and 283 said they would pick it up. 230 said they would support payment for someone to keep the village tidy and 179 said they would join an organised litter pick. (In practice litter picks organised by the Parish Council have only obtained around a dozen volunteers). Changes people would like to see in the natural environment are new hedges, more tree preservation orders, more trees and a nature reserve. The main adverse effects on the quality of life on local people was road congestion followed by A14 road noise, aircraft noise and dock light pollution.
The response indicated a significant minority of residents had disabilities. A total of 60 had hearing impairment, 59 had long term illness or condition, 54 had a physical disability, 34 had sight impairment, 11 had learning difficulties and 5 had a psychological illness.
Communications
The majority of respondents were satisfied with the performance of the Parish Council in respect of the management of the Recreation Ground, presentation of the Village Green and the general presentation of the Villages. There was less satisfaction with Planning, Achieving desired response from service providers, Listening to parishioners and Pro-activeness (initiative). Regarding Parish Council expenditure, the majority required more information but 265 were satisfied and only 20 dissatisfied with how the money is spent.
Most people found out about events in the village through the Kirton and Falkenham Review (616), and 421 from the village store, which reinforces the important part both play in our communities. The Review also was generally found to be a useful source of information. Helpful text responses suggested how improvements could be made. The majority of respondents (562) felt Kirton and Falkenham Parish Council publicised its meetings, decisions and activities very or reasonably well but 82 rated this as poor. Again, useful text answers were received. A total of 363 people use the internet at home and 218 at work, 33 at school, 23 at a library and 3 at an internet café. Whilst 188 felt the village website could be improved by advertising, more local information and events, the majority (461) had no opinion.
Leisure and Sport
Transport, Traffic & Parking
Given the location of the villages and lack of adequate public transport it is not surprising the car is the main means of transport. Over 500 vehicles of various types are kept in the villages and 171 bicycles were reported.
The great majority of people felt it important to have a village pub but when asked why they did not use The White Horse, they stated they preferred other pubs in the area which provided food. The majority of people felt that the villages did not need more open spaces for recreation and relaxation but many people would like to see the village green further developed to make it even more attractive and useful. More comments were raised regarding uses of the recreation ground and this is also reflected in the Youth Report. 222 respondents use the Recreation Ground facilities at least monthly, 363 rarely and 224 never used it. A total of 386 respondents were members of various organisations within the village. The most popular activities were:– Gardeners Club (98), Friends of Kirton Church (59), Outdoor Bowls (29) and Whist (29). New organisations or leisure facilities wanted:– 103 people would like a local rambling club, 97 want yoga, 88 a craft club 80 want a computer club.
Only 13 people reported problems with parking their vehicle. The majority of cars were parked in garages or off the road but, with narrow village lanes, the few cars and other vehicles parked on them do cause a problem. The great majority of respondents did not use the bus service as their main means of transport and the majority rated the timetable and access for the disabled as poor. Frequency and times were the major reasons people did not use the service. If the service was more frequent the majority said they would use it to travel to Ipswich and Felixstowe. Around 37 people were prepared to take part in a car share scheme. The question regarding the difficulty of getting to various services revealed the importance of keeping a shop within the community but the majority of people had no problem visiting doctors, etc.
Local & Social Services
The former local Post Office was well used as over 700 people reported using it for a wide variety of services including postal, vehicle and TV licensing, pensions, banking and mobile Phone top-up. Only 54 respondents did not use it at all. The village shop is a valued local resource not only for its convenience (542 people) but it also was reported to provide a place for social contact by over 130 people; it also saves time (294) and transport costs (256). It is important that we retain a shop in our community.
Church and Chapel
The majority of respondents felt the local Churches and Chapel were most important as historic buildings (591), focal point for the community (505), baptisms wedding and funerals (491), regular worship (244), and private prayer (203). The age range 11 to 17 seems to be poorly served whilst the best served appears to be the 65 plus.
Employment
Building Development
The respondents indicated a significant need for affordable housing, small accommodation units and housing adapted for disabled, as well as sheltered accommodation and nursing homes. Text answers indicated most respondents did not want major development – "don't make the village too big
A total of 381 respondents were employed and 93 self-employed. Retired people numbered 239, carers 32, unwaged housewife/husband 66, full time education 47, part time education 8, and one on a Government Course. Only 21 were unemployed which equates roughly to 2% of the local population. All businesses who responded noted no problem in employing suitably qualified staff. The main barriers that prevent people taking up employment were disability or health (27), and lack of access to transport (11). A large majority (682) said the question was not applicable to them.