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SANDFORD ON THAMES
PARISH PLAN
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SANDFORD ON THAMES
PARISH PLAN
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KEY SURVEY
RESULTS
Speeding traffic is a
routine problem for 230
village households
The largest response (260)
was from those agreeing
that Sandford is an
excellent place to live
228 households (87%)
agree that, if there were a
village shop, they would use
it regularly, for up to a
quarter of their shopping
86% approval rating for
our Parish Council
Three quarters of
households who
responded supported a
neighbourhood watch
scheme in their area
84% of respondents are
looking for improvements
to policing arrangements
158 households are
dissatisfied with the
present bus services
Half of those who
completed the
survey support
up to 50 more homes
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Introduction
Welcome to the Sandford on Thames Parish Plan for 2005 - 2009.
During the late summer of 2003, in response to a proposal in the
County Council's draft structure plan to build up to 3,000 houses
'south of Grenoble Road', a packed meeting in the Village Hall agreed
to embark on a village appraisal that has now resulted in this Parish Plan.
In early 2004, an 8 page survey was distributed to all 577 households
in the village and it was particularly gratifying that 282 households
(49%) responded. Analysis of the response, plus other consultations
undertaken e.g. with young people, the local farms and employers,
gives good confidence that the results are truly representative of the
village as a whole.
By July, discussions had been held with a range of
organisations such as Thames Valley Police, the Bus Companies,
Kassam Stadium and SODC. A draft report was then circulated to all
households, that was accepted with only minor comments.
This Parish Plan is the final product of the appraisal, which was
discussed and agreed with the Parish Council on Monday 6th December
2004. Wherever possible, the agreed actions are specific.
However, in
a few cases, where agreement with other parties has not yet been
achieved, they are descriptive, to define the further work that is
required. Delivery of the actions has already begun with a very
successful meeting about Crime and Policing on 29th November.
The Parish Council welcomes the plan and will review progress on the
actions on a regular basis. The survey results will also be an excellent
reference tool when discussing new issues that arise in the years ahead.
The Parish Council would like to express their great appreciation for
the funding of this appraisal by the Countryside Agency, Oxfordshire
Rural Community Council, South Oxfordshire District Council and for
all the work undertaken by the Volunteer Appraisal Group.
January 2005
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Nigel Northcott
Chair, Sandford on Thames Parish Council
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Steve Daniels
Chair, Village Appraisal Group
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Page 2
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Housing in the Village
The village remains all but unanimous
against the recent structure proposal to build
at least 3,000 houses on land immediately
adjacent to the village and 'south of
Grenoble Road' i.e. in South Oxfordshire's
Green Belt. However, this was clearly not a
case of a bunch of NIMBYs at work, as half
of respondents declared themselves happy
to see up to 50 houses (an about 8%
increase) built in the village to meet
housing needs.
However, the equally clearly expressed
requirement was that any such housing
should be of mixed types including family
and starter / affordable homes. Further
consultation on this issue suggested that the
preferred location for such housing would
be the farmland on the left of Henley Road
when entering the village from the bypass.
It seemed that households saw this as least
'building up' the village or adding to
Oxford's 'Urban Sprawl'.
Agreed Actions:
1.
If approached to approve any house
building proposals, the Parish Council
discuss these village preferences with
the developers.
2.
In such circumstances, the Parish
Council undertake a housing needs
assessment to verify local
requirements.
3.
In any such circumstances, the
Parish Council to promote to the
developer the principle of providing a
village shop unit, if such a facility has,
by then, been proven to be viable.
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A Village Shop ?
Unsurprisingly, most people welcomed the idea
of a village shop. Many said they would find it
very convenient and that they would use it
regularly. The results show that most people
would spend around a quarter of their weekly
shopping there. However, any shop would have
to be a viable business and be able to cope with
the lure of the nearby Sainsbury's & Tesco's.
The Office for National Statistics gives a range
of figures for rural weekly shopping. Taking
these, the support for a shop indicated by the
survey and then extending this to the whole
village, shows that it could generate turnover of
about £8,000 weekly.
Spar and Londis require a turnover of at least
£10,000 and the Co-op £15,000. Customers are
likely to want late opening and a suitable
location for the shop would also have to be
found.
Agreed Action:
1.
That a working group of Parish Council
and Village Appraisal Members consider
the case for a village shop in more detail,
as well as to explore alternative
approaches to maximise turnover potential.
A Good Neighbour Scheme
The survey results largely agreed that villagers
are 'friendly' and 'show they care'. Indeed, a
massive 86% of respondents are willing to
provide help to, and keep an eye on, an elderly
neighbour. This could be a real contribution to
village life and a great help to the Older Persons
Homes along Henley Road.
Agreed Actions:
1.
The Parish Council to place an article in
'The Link' and on the website to recruit a
scheme co-ordinator.
2.
Once provided with some basic training,
the scheme co-ordinator to establish a
working group and launch the scheme via a
public meeting in the Village Hall.
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Page 3
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Living and Working Locally
Over half of the working residents of the village already work in Oxford, a further 15% up to 10
miles away but only 10% in the village. Despite there being ambivalence about whether the
respondents wanted to be the ones to work locally, 60% felt there should be more local work
opportunities. However, 75% are pessimistic about the chances of this, and believe that the village
will be a dormitory in less than 5 years.
Agreed Actions:
1.
Local employers to be encouraged to advertise vacancies, alongside their services and
activities, on the web site and in The Link.
2.
The Sandford on Thames website to be enhanced to include links to local employment
websites and those of all the local employers.
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Neighbourhood Watches
Opinions on the
effectiveness of
the existing two
Neighbourhood Watches
are mixed, with only
41% thinking the
local schemes are
effective.
These presently only cover a quarter of the
village, but three quarters of the village
welcomed the idea of a scheme being
established in their area.
On the 29th November, the Appraisal
Group, supported by Thames Valley Police,
held a meeting of interested households,
where enthusiasm for the existing watches
was refreshed and the 'ringmaster' system
was optimised.
Agreed Actions:
1.
By mid 2005, to have established
watches in parts of Henley Road
and the Heyford Hill Estate.
2.
By the end of 2006, to have
established a comprehensive framework
of schemes throughout the village,
including the park homes.
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Page 5
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Local Environment
Respondents to the survey strongly agreed that a 'green
approach' to maintenance was important, even if it has
since been difficult to obtain a clear consensus on
precisely what that meant!
In contrast, the survey replies were evenly split over
whether the village looks attractive when entering it.
There were a number of comments to suggest that the
village lacked a 'heart or soul'. At present a few villagers
take it upon themselves to do litter sweeps of some areas.
An early success of the appraisal has been to identify that
many households did not even know about the green box
scheme or were not recycling all the materials that are
accepted. A briefing in The Link led to lots of boxes being
requested and more were claimed at the Village Fete.
Many requests were also made for glass recycling facilities
in the village.
The Parish Council has already commissioned an improved
verge-mowing programme in central areas that cuts more
finely and removes the cuttings, in forthcoming years.
Agreed Actions:
1.
A village 'environmental group' to be created, under a volunteer leader, with support
(including finance) from the Parish Council.
2.
That, subject to the acceptability of the likely costs by the Parish Council, more is
made of the village and its green spaces, by:
a)
flower and shrub beds created at a variety of key points throughout the village, as
part of the traffic management proposals.
c)
a programme of trimming and edging that maximises the usability of village
pavements and paths.
d)
other areas being left to naturalise or being maintained as wild gardens.
3.
The village to have an annual 'litter blitz' to share out the work followed by a social
event such as a BBQ, funded by the Parish Council.
4.
A suitable location for a glass recycling bank to be found, that does not cause
traffic or litter problems, which a contractor empties on a regular basis.
5.
Current recycling options to be regularly re-iterated in The Link.
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Page 6
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Young Voices
About a third of young people in the village aged from 4-17
responded to a separate questionnaire covering issues specific to
them. It was clear that, like the adult respondents, they were
strongly in favour of a village shop and a better bus service. They
also object to vandalism, fast cars, poor lighting and misuse of the
play equipment.
The Ozone bowling and cinema facilities are also used regularly
by teenagers and under 12s. However, they feel strongly that the
range of activities and recreational equipment in Sandford itself is
inadequate, and does not reflect the wide range of interests they have. This view is endorsed by the
majority of adult residents.
Most young people attend schools outside the Sandford area, such that they are less likely to have
school friends living locally. Teenagers in particular care about having a suitable place to meet up.
Sadly, a small number of 4-12 year olds felt that some villagers in Sandford were unfriendly, in
contrast to adult views that Sandford is generally a friendly place to live.
Agreed Actions:
1.
To promote the activities that are already available locally to young people, in a
dedicated section of the village directory.
2.
Advertise in the link for volunteer organisers of activity sessions in subjects shown in
the appraisal to be of interest to young people.
3.
The Parish Council to seek grant support for these initiatives.
4.
The Parish Council's play equipment budget for this year to be targeted upon
facilities for the 7 - 12 year age group.
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Village Information & Communications
An interesting outcome of the appraisal was that many villagers clearly
do not know about the many facilities already available to them.
Requests for clubs and societies, to be run in the Village Hall,
were made with many already being available at the Village Hall. The
general level of knowledge about the bus timetables and about the
mobile library's schedule was also low.
Limited communication, especially to those new to the village, is quite apparent in some areas. The
existing services do a good job in keeping people informed. Indeed, the highest percentage of
'strongly agrees' in the survey concerned the importance of The Link, Village Noticeboards and
Sandford Web pages.
Agreed Actions:
1.
An annual directory of village services to be issued, by March
2005, as an extra issue of The Link with extra copies that can be
given to all new arrivals, as a 'welcome to the village' pack.
2.
Initiate a project, by June 2005, using any available grants, to
extend www.sandfordonthames.co.uk into an information 'portal'.
3.
Promote the use of the library service in all information media.
4.
Meet with OCC to obtain more visits by the service, especially in
the late afternoon.
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Village Hall
The village hall
received the most
written opinions
from the survey and
generated more
suggestions than
the questions on
traffic problems.
Over half of the respondents (57%) have
visited the village hall at least once, and a
third have hired the hall at some time.
Inevitably, some concerns were raised about
noise and other nuisances for which the
letting regulations have already been
tightened.
Agreed Actions:
1.
The Village Hall Management
Committee to continue to encourage the
use of the hall by advertising its
facilities and conditions of hire more
widely, including in the directory,
website and on a new noticeboard
outside the hall.
2.
During 2005, to expand the range
and type of activities as highlighted in
the appraisal survey.
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Buses
127 respondents said they would welcome a
service to take them to the nearby Sainsbury's
or Tescos. Subsequently, it was established
that Tappins Coaches already runs a service to
Tesco on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The numerous requests
for improved bus
services, especially on
Sundays and in the
evenings, have had
some limited successes.
Journey timings have been adjusted to
link to school closing times. However, Thames
Transit observed that Sunday and Evening
services have been tried previously but were
not used sufficiently for them to be
commercially viable.
Agreed Actions:
1.
Encourage increased use of the
existing services by advertising the
times, destinations, fares and bus stops
in all information channels.
2.
To hold a further meeting with a
Senior Manager of each of the bus
companies, to raise village concerns and
obtain an increased level of services.
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Page 8
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Most of the respondents to the survey had things to say about this subject.
83% of respondents said that speeding is a routine problem. A clear
majority want highways improvements as a priority, to address clear
danger spots e.g. the junction of Henley Road and Church Road.
The creation of the 'Ozone' Centre adjacent to the Kassam Stadium has
generally been welcomed and is expected by parishioners to be even more
beneficial as more units are opened. At the same time, traffic congestion
has improved as new car parking facilities have been opened on site.
