Farringdon Parish Plan Questionnaire Results Summary
We achieved an 85% rate of return of the questionnaires. 110 questionnaires were filled in and returned, representing 277 people, of whom 246 people aged over 11 answered the individual questions. One form was returned blank; two households thought it to be too invasive and we didn’t chase the rest any further, although forms can still be accepted for a short while.
These results will be used as input to the Parish Plan itself, so this is a summary of the findings rather than a discussion of the possible resulting actions and opportunities.
The following is a summary of the answers in the questionnaire and the full statistics will also be made public on the Farringdon website.
Note that in the following the percentages refer to the actual forms returned, so 100% represents the 110 returned forms or the 246 people who answered the individual questions. The percentages refer to “yes” answers unless otherwise stated.
Overall profile
Of the households reporting, 91% were owner occupied, with 9% rented. Just two were second homes. The average length of time residents had lived in the parish was just under 8 years, with 66 being the longest. The respondents were 53% male and 47% female and the average age of around 44 was a little above the national average.
55% of people were working, with 24% retired and 13% students. Of the people working, 26% worked at home while 50% commuted within 15 miles.
We also found that 80% of households had computers and 70% were broadband connected.
Housing development
There was reasonable support for affordable housing (47% yes, 30% no), agricultural workers housing (39% yes, 27% no) and ECO housing (36% yes, 26% no), but for the other housing categories such as mid-priced and upmarket, there was a slight majority against. Only 2% were in favour of second homes and 17% thought that there should be no further housing at all.
Gypsy and traveller sites
62% thought there should be no sites at all, with 15% wanting fewer sites; 18% found the current sites acceptable and 1% wanted more sites. There were many comments in this area, the most common being that the sites were originally set up illegally and that different planning standards appeared to apply here from those applied to other residents.
Roads
In general the minor roads were reported as more problematic to residents than the major A3052, with traffic speed being the biggest issue overall. The percentage of people explicitly disagreeing with the various problems and solutions tended to reduce significantly as we went from A to B to minor roads; for example, there were majorities against speed cameras and a lower speed limit on the A3052, while speed limits were quite strongly voted for on the other roads.
A3052 – Excess speed (49% yes and 37% no) and excess heavy vehicles (48% yes and 38% no) were the main problems. There were several additional comments about the difficulty of joining the road from Farringdon. The most desired changes were to provide a cycle path (54%) or proper pavement (48%), with relatively few voting against. However, a majority opposed lowering the speed limit (43% no to 37% yes) and introducing speed cameras (46% no to 29% yes).
B3184 – Again, excess speed (61% yes and 26% no) and excess heavy vehicles (54% yes and 30% no) were the main problems along with poor road surface (48% yes and 32% no). Many comments were made about traffic speed, airport traffic and heavy vehicles. Applying a speed limit (65% yes and 24% no) and weight limit (65% and 17% no) were the most popular changes followed by resurfacing (42%), but with a majority against road widening (48% no to 31% yes).
Minor roads – In the case of the minor roads, the poor road surface (61% yes and 23% no) was seen as the major problem, again along with excess speed (57% yes and 28% no) and heavy vehicles (44% yes and 25% no). There were comments about these roads having become “rat runs”. These roads had the strongest support for improvements; the most popular being a speed limit (61% yes and 24% no), resurfacing (59% yes and 21% no), “village only” sign (59% yes and 22% no), “narrow road sign” (59% yes and 22% no), official passing places (50% yes and 28% no) and “beware children” sign (48% yes and 28% no). However, the majority were against speed humps (61% no to 14% yes).
Accidents – 15 households (or their visitors) in the parish had had an accident on the local roads in the last 2 years, the majority being on the unclassified roads. "Speed" was mentioned in the vast majority.
Business development
Agricultural (71%) and horticulture (70%) were the most favoured types of business development, followed by Arts and Crafts Workshops (61%) and leisure related businesses (53%). The least popular was “general industrial” (61% no to 9% yes) and “light industrial” (51% no to 29% yes). Only 6% said “no” to all categories.
Environment
The biggest issues impacting residents’ enjoyment of Farringdon were “fly-tipping” (57%) and “General untidiness and litter” (47%) along with the volume of airport traffic (48%). About a third of the residents were affected by dust, light and noise from Hill Barton, which represented a very high percentage of the neighbouring postcodes.
The most significant problems identified within the parish were speeding traffic (65%) and lack of police presence (44%), with dog attacks being reported by 31% of residents.
Tourism
Easily the most popular sort of tourist business development was bed & breakfast (68%), with arts and crafts centre (52%) and guest houses (46%) next. The least popular were large hotels (71% no), and permanent caravan sites (69% no). There was a strong feeling (73%) that tourists should not be encouraged into the centre of the village.
We found that 26 people (11%) benefited financially from the tourist business in Farringdon.
Transport
The vast majority of residents either never (48%) or only occasionally (29%) used public transport to or from the parish, although 42% used the Exeter park and ride service. However, 77% or people said they would use public transport to Exeter if it was convenient and reliable, and many commented on the expense of the current services.
56% of residents used Exeter Airport either occasionally or once a twice a year.
Communications
The Farringdon Flyer (88%) was considered the most effective way of informing people of local events, with middling support for the public notice boards (55%), website (52%), email (45%), and the FRA newsletter (47%).
Personal contact (46%), email (47%) and phone (47%) were equally supported as means of communicating with Parish Councillors, while again the Flyer (81%) was the most popular way for the PC to keep residents informed, with lower support for email (43%), PC newsletter (37%), notice boards (35%), and website (35%).
Social and community
The most popular current activity in the Village Hall was “village wide meetings” (37%) followed by Farringdon Society of Arts events (30%), but 34% never used the Hall.
When asked what sort of events would interest people, musical events were the most popular (45%) followed by food and drink events (41%), lectures (36%), arts and crafts events (35%) and social events (35%).
Although the use of the Church ranged from 4% regular worshippers to 39% attending the Christmas carol service, 81% thought that it was important to have a local Church. 63% thought it should be used for “non-Church” events, although there was a majority (44% to 18%) against removing the pews.
Youth facilities
The provision of a play area for children (50% yes, 18% no), a tennis court (45% yes, 20% no) and a youth club (42% yes, 18% no) were most popular. 76% thought that there should be a recreation field in the parish.
Services and facilities
The most popular household services that would be used were the various categories of collection for recycling (all between 80% and 90%).
In the cases of visiting services for individuals, farmers markets were easily the most popular (59%).
Community Run Developments
The most popular community run developments were a shop (55% yes, 24% no), pub/shop (53% yes, 28% no) pub (48% yes, 29% no) and arts/crafts centre (46% yes, 33% no).
Summary comments
The most common points from the general comments at the end of the questionnaire were that people had chosen to live in Farringdon because of its rural nature, but were very concerned about “creeping industrialisation” and of being impotent in the face of the local planning processes. These have all been captured, but can be best summed up by the following comment by a resident: