Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan Survey Preliminary Results

Presented by: Winchfield Neighbourhood Development Plan Committee,

a Sub Committee of Winchfield Parish Council

As at 25th October 2014

Vision and Objectives

Winchfield Parish Council supports the creation of the Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan and has delegated the work involved to the Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (NPSG). The steering group is completely voluntary, and offer their time and resources free of charge for the benefit of the future of Winchfield as a whole.

Vision - Dedicated to preserving rural Winchfield as an unspoilt Domesday Village for the benefit of the local community.   It is important for Winchfield, Hart and the UK to preserve its natural heritage, enabling green habitat to flourish, without the risk of large scale destruction.

The village engagement to date has driven the objectives of the Steering Group, which are:

Objectives• Preserve Winchfield as a rural village• Support appropriate development for the benefit of the community.• Preserve wildlife habitat, woodlands and green fields in Winchfield, for the benefit of

the whole district.

The village survey has allowed us to drill deeper into the issues important to residents and provides the robust evidence of local views that will help us draft a Winchfield Neighbourhood Development Plan, which will then come back to the village for comment. The final plan must pass an examination by a planning inspector and then be approved by a referendum of the village residents before it can be adopted by Hart District Council.

Survey Process

The survey was developed by the Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, in consultation with the residents of Winchfield and the Winchfield Parish Council. Independent advice and guidance was also engaged via consultants from ‘Towns Alive’ (www.townsalive.com).

The upcoming survey (and village engagement session) was advertised via email to those signed up for email communications as supporters of Winchfield on August 26th and September 16th. A printed notice of the Village Engagement Session was also delivered by hand to every house in the village.

The Village Engagement Session of August 31st was used to publicise the upcoming survey draft content and gain views and input. Over 94 comments were received during the 2 hour session to help refine the survey.

Copies of the finalised survey were printed and distributed to every house in Winchfield on 26 th and 27th September. All 262 houses were covered, to ensure everyone had a chance to have their say.

We achieved a 34% response rate (89 surveys returned) over a 3 week period, and overwhelming support for what we are all trying to achieve with the Winchfield Neighbourhood Development Plan.

The results are summarised in this presentation for information and will be used in the detail of the Winchfield Neighbourhood Development Plan, which is being drafted for review and comment prior to the end of 2014.

Any questions? Please contact: winchfieldaction@gmail.com

Survey Response Overview

Responses to the survey represent:

89 Households (34% of the 262 Winchfield households)

194 adults of voting age, who between them have 34 children under 16 living in Winchfield

Responses covered a representative spread across all roads in Winchfield 4 from Old Potbridge Road12 from Odiham Road9 from Beauclerk Green11 from Bagwell Lane9 from Station Road2 from Station Hill14 from The Hurst6 from Spratts Hatch Lane2 from Taplins Farm Lane17 from Winchfield Court3 from Barley Mow Close

The age spread (of the lead respondent) is as follows:

• 41% are aged 66 or over• 47% are aged 46-65• 11% are aged 31-45• 1% are aged 30 or under

76% of respondents do not have children under 16 living as their dependents in Winchfield.

When asked how long have lived in Winchfield:• 70% have lived here for more than

10 years• 10% have lived here 6-10 years• 18% have lived here up to 5 years

(2 respondents did not answer this question)

Respondent Overview

There was an overwhelming response showing that residents want to preserve the rural nature of Winchfield:

• 98% want to preserve the Unspoilt country views including farmed landscape, woodlands, grasslands

• 96% want to preserve The rural lanes and traditional hedgerows• 96% want to preserve Local heritage buildings, bridges, and the canal• 93% want to preserve The abundance of wildlife in a safe habitat

64% want to preserve the spread-out nature of the parish (i.e. no village centre)

36% want to preserve the minimal facilities (e.g. lack of a village shop

What do residents want to preserve about Winchfield?

This question was a comment question. The range of comments include:

30% specifically commented on a need for change around traffic, both speed and congestion around the station. Many of these comments noted desire to reduce speed through the village for public safety (see detailed transport response summary), specifically reducing the speed limit on the Odiham to HW road (to max 50), improving safety at the Barley Mow junction, Pale lane and Bagwell Lane.

26% either made no comment on things they wanted to change or would change nothing with several of these respondents saying – keep Winchfield as it is!

10% would support a village shop (suggestions included keeping its style in keeping with village and ensuring appropriate consideration of parking needs)

7% added comments on a need for more connecting footpaths (whilst preserving the hedgerow and rural lanes)

6% want more investment in road maintenance, (including pothole maintenance, and clearing ditches to prevent flooding)

5% support the creation of a village centre, perhaps around a village green.

4% commented on a desire for hedgerow maintenance, some specifically mentioning making landowners more responsible for this (for visibility / safety), whilst still preserving the hedgerow itself

2% commented on a desire to keep Winchfield litter free (including quicker fly-tipping clearance)

What would respondents like to change about Winchfield?

Overall only 35% of respondent household said the railway was a significant factor in moving to Winchfield

Respondents use the train included:Social

• 80% of households use the station for off-peak social useWork

• Only 24% of respondent households use the train for commuting to work• 38% use the station for occasional business use

School• 10% use the station for school or college commuting

10% of respondent households don’t use the train station from Winchfield at all

Respondent use of the train

Respondent views on other transportBus The majority, 72%, said they did not feel that the absence of a bus service in Winchfield is a problem. However 26% did feel some further investment in a

bus service would be beneficial (especially to connect the Hurst to the Station)

Cycling Respondents were split on whether there are enough facilities for cyclists. 53% said yes, 39% said no. The majority of suggestions to improve were

around reducing the speed limits on the roads to make cycling safer, and the creation of some cycle routes (whilst still preserving the rural lanes)

Walkers 65% of respondents felt there were sufficient public footpaths in Winchifeld (mostly as a rural village shouldn’t have town like pavements). However, 34%

felt more could be done (mostly to allow for connections between existing facilities – e.g. the top of Station Hill to the station and from Beauclerk to this junction).

Traffic on the lanes 71% were in favour of introducing speed

restrictions throughout the village (especiallya 50mph limit on the Odiham Road and a 30mph limit on other village lanes)

61% were in favour of traffic calming (but notable several commented on not wanting traffic calming like the chicane in Dogmersfield)

Respondents preferred placement of housing in Winchfield is as follows: 84% were in favour of a series of small scale developments

(max 5-7 houses per site) spread around the parish 65% were in favour of individual houses around the Parish as

in-fill and as additions to existing settlements 55% were in favour of re-developing brown-field sites in the

parish

Less than 20% of respondents were supportive of one or more scaled housing estates, creating a village centre, or ribbon development (road edge infill to join up groups of housing)

97% of respondents were in favour of the plan specifying minimum off road parking allocations per new house or dwelling: 69% in favour of off road parking appropriate to size of housing 30% happy with 2 off road spaces per household

Placement of Housing Allocation

Respondents indicated that their housing needs over the coming 15 years are as follows:

60% expect to need Granny Annex additions to existing properties

48% see a need for affordable housing for children of villagers or other local residents to move into. Linked to this, 43% expected a need for smaller affordable housing (eg terraced homes) making it easier for young people to live and work in Winchfield

37% see a need for more single family homes

A lesser need was expected for Warden assisted homes (28%), and more large country properties with land (13%)

Respondent Housing Needs

Respondents indicated that their preferred housing style for Winchfield development is as follows:

Overwhelmingly 96% wanted development to be traditional and rural in style in keeping with a rural village

Also significantly, 83% want to cap development in the village at 2 storey builds (e.g. no townhouses)

Over 60% were in favour of barn conversion styled housing, and small terraced ‘farm worker’ style rural properties. 46% also favoured extensions over UPVC conservatories.

Less than a third of respondents were in favour of modern styled homes or flats / apartments

Preferred Housing Style