Level 1 Questionnaire Survey Results
From the results and analysis of this survey, the respondents felt most strongly about the following issues and topics;
– ‘Community spirit’ is the top reason why people like living in Catshill and should be taken into account when developing planning policies,
– Issues with ‘traffic’, including high volume, speed and noise, is one of the main reasons that detract from living in the village and traffic reduction should be paramount in any future planning permissions,
– There are strong feelings against ‘housing development’ which could effect the character of the village and any future developments should provide for affordable homes and spread throughout the village in small development sites,
– ‘Police’ and ‘crime’ featured highly in people’s concerns and related to the anti social behaviour of youths and the lack of youth facilities,
– ‘Wildlife’ ranked highly in the responses, together with protection of the ‘green belt’ and therefore preserving and protecting the environment should be an important consideration in planning policies,
– There was a widely held view that ‘public transport’ needed to be improved, particularly for residents in North Marlbrook,
– ‘Local shops’ and ‘amenities’ were generally considered to be a positive reason for living in the village, however the shopping area suffers from many inadequacies and the prevalence of fast food outlets needs to be addressed,
– Respondents felt least strongly about ‘Jobs’ and the opportunities for local jobs now and in the future (from the Business Survey) will not improve, unless positive proposals are considered to attract businesses to the area.
Top responses from the Questionnaire
Traffic
Many frustrations about traffic expressed;
“Horrendous traffic congestion – Catshill is a cut through”
“Traffic speed enforcement is key”
“Heavy traffic , particularly large lorries travelling along Meadow road. Local houses vibrate when these lorries pass by”
Maintenance of pavements, roads and footpaths
Great deal of concern about state of maintenance;
“Footpath and drop kerb location and maintenance signage in the village, especially at the entrance to alleys”
“Pavements are terrible, very patchy and uneven”
Housing Development
Many residents feel that the character of Catshill as a village will be put at risk with more housing development;
“Do not crowd our beautiful community with new housing. Develop what we have into making this place ever more attractive”
Parking Controls
Due to inadequate availability of parking around the schools and the shopping centre much more control is required;
“Need for more yellow lines around road junctions, parking on the pavement and road”
“Traffic warden required to police double yellow lines, especially the Dock and Golden Cross Lane”
Protect the Green Belt
Protecting wild life, green spaces and village boundaries scored highly in residents’ responses;
“To maintain the Green Belt between Catshill and Bromsgrove”
“Preserve green space and plant more trees, encouraging more wild flowers”
Planning policies should be clearly linked to an overall vision and clear objectives for your Neighbourhood Plan. Planning policies don’t exist in isolation – they are there to deliver the community’s ambitions through planning decisions.
Neighbourhood planning policies only influence development that requires a planning application. You cannot have planning policies on issues that fall outside of the scope of planning control. There is also a wide range of development that falls within planning control but does not require a planning application (known as ‘permitted development’).
Therefore many issues identified in this survey report cannot be addressed through planning policies. These are initiatives which are community aspirations and projects which can be included in the plan but carry no particular status e g development of youth facilities; also other issues are dealt with by other Authorities e g traffic speed controls by the Highways Authority.
A vision statement is the start point from which objectives and policies for land development and use will flow. An evidence base of community views has now been collected on which this statement can be established.
Sustaining and reinforcing the village’s ‘community spirit’ will be its central tenet as well as building a cohesive, long term development of amenities and facilities to support the village’s growth, together with protection and preservation of wild life habitats and green spaces, whilst all the time retaining the distinctive character and history of the village.
A copy of the level 1 questionnaire can be seen here.
The Report on the Level 1 Questionnaires can be viewed by clicking
Results and Analysis of Level 1 Questionnaires.