With over 260 individual responses to the survey explaining what people like about the local community and your challenges and aspirations, there was lots of fascinating information to analyse.  To supplement the interactive infographics and summary, we’ve put together some more insights.  Get yourself a cuppa and enjoy a good read!.

Five big aspirations emerged from the survey responses:

We’re using those themes to frame the Community Assembly next Thursday evening (don’t forget to reserve your place!), the online Ideas Bank and the working groups that will be soon be set up to develop practical solutions.  The article on the front page has more information.

This post gives you more insight into each of those five themes.  We hope it stimulates ideas for action as you read through!

This covers things like playparks, places for young people, cafes, pubs, libraries, halls and other places to meet.  Outdoor recreation, sports facilities, community gardening, maintenance of public spaces, litter and toilets.  Community events.  Shopping, health services and schools.  In other words, local facilities, services and amenities.

The most mentioned aspirations in survey responses related to community facilities - approximately 400 suggestions in total.  Here are the most popular suggestions:

Other suggestions included more health and social care (27), community gardening (22), investing in education like a single new primary school (18), reopen the Foyers public toilets (12), better recycling or skip visits (5) and better car parking in Foyers (3).

This includes public transport, community transport, safe paths and cycletracks for getting around, the road network and broadband.  

Almost 200 of the 260 folk who responded to the survey mentioned transport as a challenge facing the community.  Road maintenance (potholes and winter gritting) was mentioned by 80 people.   Broadband, mobile and landline services were mentioned as a challenge by 30 people, with the vast majority of those focussing on broadband.

When asked for their aspirations, 120 people mentioned better connections.  These included:

OUTDOORS AND NATURE

This covers things like protecting nature and wildness, access to the great outdoors, and conserving the rural environment.

As a community, we love our natural environment!  Almost 50% (128 people) of people replying to the community survey mentioned natural beauty, wildlife, views and space as being what they like about the local community - the single most popular topic. Around 90 folk liked that it was unspoilt and rural; 75 mentioned the peace and quiet; and 72 mentioned outdoor activities, mainly walking but also cycling, children’s play and watersports.

The community survey reveals some other interesting titbits.  Around 60 people referred to the need to protect nature and landscape, including litter and land management practices like clear felling and renewables.  52 people mentioned tourism, including the need to achieve a better balance between its economic benefits and downsides like consequences of wild camping.  45 people expressed a desire to conserve the community’s rural identity, often identified with not wishing to urbanise or overdevelop with suburban housing and so on.  39 people mentioned the need for better maintenance - including paths, bins, picnic benches and car parks as well as roads, of course.

This covers things like affordable homes, support with winter heating or fuel costs and specialist housing like respite or care accommodation.

Around 70 people mentioned homes and housing in the community survey, and around 65 referred to the cost of living (mainly transport and housing) as a challenge.

Of those who mentioned homes and housing, the single biggest issue (mentioned by around 50 people) was the need for affordable housing - particularly for young people or families.  16 people mentioned the need for sheltered housing, care or respite accommodation; and a handful suggested that second homes should be restricted and the design of new houses should be more sympathetic to the area.

Around 20 people suggested that there should be support for residents with winter heating, fuel and electricity costs.  About 10 suggested that there should be subsidies for residents to move away from fossil fuels in powering their homes.

ORGANISING OURSELVES

This covers how we work together as a community.  It includes how the Trust and other community organisations collaborate and communicate with the local community, and community ownership of land, buildings or energy supplies.

About 80 of the 260 survey respondents said that community communications and collaboration was a challenge for the community.  About 40 of those mentioned communication and transparency, and many of these focussed on how windfarm money is distributed and how the Community Trust communicates.  30 mentioned the importance of community spirit and the strain on volunteers who do so much for the local community.

A similar number, 90, had aspirations for the community to organise and communicate better.  Around 50 of those referred directly to decision making, communications and accountability by the Community Trust.

Does this make you think of what you would like to see happen in the future?  Does this make you think of what you think would be best for the community as a whole?  If you’ve got ideas for practical solutions, or just want to see what others have to say, reserve your place at the Community Assembly on Thursday 15th April or take a look at the Ideas Bank pages, where you can also sign up for one of the working groups.