Shavington-cum-Gresty Neighbourhood Plan — Questionnaire Results
Article wording provided by Bill Atteridge, Chairman of the Shavington-cum-Gresty Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.
Progress update — January 2020
As of January 2020 the village Neighbourhood Plan preparation has progressed to Reg. 15 of the legally defined process — submission of the Draft Neighbourhood Plan and related supporting documentation to Cheshire East Council — leading to finalisation and adoption of a formal Neighbourhood Plan that will be used in consideration in determining the acceptability of all future planning applications within the parish.
Next Steps
The next steps include a consultation of the submitted Plan document managed by Cheshire East, examination by an independent expert and finally a referendum for the villagers to vote on adoption of the final Neighbourhood Plan document. The current estimate by Cheshire East is that a referendum is possible in early June.
The Questionnaires
A major part of the formal process of development of the Neighbourhood Plan document was a consultation exercise.
The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 requires a consultation of the designated area residents to determine the issues to be addressed in the formulation and development of a Neighbourhood Plan. To this end, Shavington-cum-Gresty Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group set out to gather this information as responses to a comprehensive questionnaire.
The main questionnaire was prepared, along with an eight page information leaflet explaining the purpose of the Neighbourhood Plan and the Neighbourhood Planning process. These documents were hand delivered to every household in the Parish in October 2016, to be completed by 14th November 2016.
There were also separate questionnaires for teenagers, younger children as well as one specifically for local businesses, all available to be completed on-line. 812 adults responded to the principal questionnaire, a notably high proportion of the village.
The Questionnaire Results
The results highlighted:
- There is high car usage and some parking issues at local services and amenities
- Almost everyone who replied was connected to the internet
- Most people live in a privately owned semi-detached or detached house
- A number of people had family who wanted to move within the Parish, or move back into the Parish but had been unable to find suitable housing for their needs
- The public footpaths are well used
- More recreation space would be welcomed
Many residents commented on the large amount of new building that was taking place in the Parish, and worried that Shavington-cum-Gresty did not have adequate infrastructure to cope with the pressure that the new developments would bring. Many residents were also concerned that Shavington-cum-Gresty would lose its village feel.
As part of the documentation of the results of the questionnaire, the following reports have been prepared to record the vast amount of information received via the questionnaire.
There is a separate report for each of the questionnaires which can be viewed at the links below:
Business Questionnaire results
