Survey Conclusions &  Action Points

1. Status Quo

The largest answer to the question ‘what improvements or changes would you like to see?’  came from the 59 households who gave no answer at all, presumably indicating contentment with the status quo, with a further 10 saying ‘leave alone, and keep the friendly atmosphere’. Four respondents rather angrily wanted to be ‘left alone’ (‘it ain’t broke etc’).

In the response to a separate question the Council were urged to ‘leave well alone’ by 16 replies (‘don’t tart it up’), mostly in the spirit of ‘it’s fine as it is’, but some in the interests of reduced ‘nannying’.

61% of the parish wanted no development of any kind, and there was very little support for changes.  63% felt the quality of life in the parish was much the same as 10 years ago.

• Planning Point:
  The Council therefore will work to keep things pretty much ‘as is’ with no big new developments, and will try to preserve the friendly, rural atmosphere within the parish, whilst attempting to reduce or mitigate the problems caused by increasing traffic (traffic issues being the dominant theme across the whole survey).

2.Vehicle & Highway Issues

Although the Parish Council has very little control or influence over most highway matters, which are managed by the SCC Highways Department, this is the area causing most concern to residents.

a) Speeding.
73% of the parish felt that speeding is a problem, although a vociferous minority (especially in Rushmore) did not agree. The main areas mentioned were the Rushmore ‘straight’ (especially by the shops), the A287 from the school to the Reeds Rd, and Shortfield Common Rd past the pub & recreation ground.

Traffic calming and lower speed limits were supported by an overwhelming number of responses from Frensham village, and traffic calming received twice as much support as any other possible solution in Rushmoor. An occasional highly visible police presence was suggested by a good number of responses

• Planning Point:
  The Council will incorporate some calming measures (probably a zebra crossing) in its Rushmore community area plan, and will work with SCC Highways to achieve a properly designed and implemented traffic-calming scheme there. We will also seek to introduce road tarmac signs and a pedestrianised area at Hollowdene, where nearly one third of respondents want better pavements. The Council will attempt to obtain ‘flashing’ speed warning signs for the A287 through the Parish and will continue to push for proper speed limits to be introduced/enforced throughout Frensham Village, including The Street.

b) Other Traffic Issues.
The majority of the parish favoured other traffic-calming measures, but 23% wanted none at all and many residents are against a proliferation of roadside signs, wishing to keep the rural appearance of the parish.

• Planning Point:
  The Council will investigate the utility/effectiveness of a small number of ‘Children at Play’ and similar warnings. Sight lines at a number of junctions onto main roads across the parish need to be improved, and the Council will raise this issue with the SCC Highways department. Finally in view of a number of comments made about heavy vehicles using The Street (and elsewhere) the Council will investigate the possibility of completely banning through lorry traffic from the A325 to the A287.

c) Car Parking.
The survey showed that there is an average of 1.9 vehicles per household across the parish. The numbers parking in the roadway were low (12% (Frensham Village), 4% (Rushmoor). Although only 11% had difficulty parking in Frensham Village and 13% in Rushmoor, the comments made on the questionnaires indicate that there are specific areas of parking difficulty: the vicinity of local schools in the mornings and late afternoons; around the Marindin Hall; both garages in Rushmoor and Frensham village where trade vehicles are parked off-premises and in the roadway; and local shops and post offices where there is no specific provision.

Parking facilities in respect of these communal areas produced a very negative response, particularly from Rushmoor residents: 40%(Frensham Village) and a massive 78% (Rushmoor ward) thought parking facilities poor.

• Planning Points:
  The Council will investigate provision of a lay-by/parking bay on the A287 by Marindin Hall, on land that, we believe, belongs to SCC.
• We will investigate, together with the School authorities, the traffic and parking issues by the School, and will also talk to St Mary’s about a car park for the Church.
• The parking spaces planned for the new Frensham Post Office will help to alleviate the parking problem there.
• The Council’s Rushmore Community plan seeks to provide some limited, short-term, parking for the area by the Rushmoor Post Office.
• The removal of commercial vehicles parked outside garage premises will significantly alleviate the problem in both villages. This is a perennial issue and the Council regularly ask all concerned to reduce/limit their parking requirements, with reasonable success, and will continue to monitor this.

d) Household Parking Provision
With the increasing numbers of vehicle per household, on-road parking is bound to become an issue, and the decline in public transport will only exacerbate this. Accordingly the Council will now insist that adequate parking spaces are incorporated into all new build and where possible into house extension plans.

e) School Footpath
90 people in Frensham wanted more footpaths, and especially on the narrow road between St Mary’s church and the school; there were 5 requests for a footpath, adjacent to the road, across the fields to the school. The Council will investigate this possibility, and if feasible, add to our project plans.

f) Volunteer ‘Lift’ Service
The survey shows that despite the large number of private cars in the parish some 3% of adults have no daytime access to a vehicle, including several who are too infirm to drive themselves. With declining bus services there is a greater need for the volunteer lift service organised by the parish church, and the Council will therefore do what it can to support and enhance this service, possibly by assisting with publicity & insurance cover, and look to extend it to Rushmoor.

3. Policing Issues

Police coverage of the parish received the most adverse response in the entire parish plan questionnaire. Comments such as “never seen a policeman” describe the overall reaction reasonably accurately, although given the extremely low levels of crime in this area there is, perhaps, little need for a police presence.  However, the perception of a lack of policing is strong and the feeling is that even an occasional police presence will help to deter speeding and minor crime. The Council will work with the police to get the same degree of police support as that in other local villages, which have a shared but dedicated local neighbourhood police officer.

4 Sports & Social Issues

From the survey it is clear that sport in the Parish is working well, with heavy use of Hollowdene recreation ground, local countryside pursuits, and outside facilities. The Council will continue to support the local sports & social clubs and the recreation ground; we will publicise these clubs/events more, especially for Rushmoor residents. The Council will encourage the local sports clubs to create/maintain junior teams wherever possible. The Council will work to build links with the countryside pursuits clubs and to assist them where possible.

The Council will not attempt to build another children’s’ playground in Rushmoor.

One respondent was possibly interested in running a playgroup, and the Council will talk to her directly.

5. Nature & Environment Issues

There were a number of complaints centred on the the Little Pond and the Council will raise these concerns with the National Trust,

Mini Nature Reserve

Virtually all the parish felt that the natural world (flora and fauna) was an important part of our lives, and strongly wished to maintain the ‘rural feel’ of Frensham. We believe that the Parish owns a small strip of land near Shortfield common, and we propose to convert this to a mini-nature reserve/protected animal route/ nature corridor. We will be seeking volunteers with appropriate knowledge and skills to support this project.

Dog Fouling

This is another perennial issue, which was the subject of several complaints, particularly concerning the Hollowdene recreation ground and playground. The Council look to introduce better, more informative warning signs and a more effective penalty scheme, and increased information/education via the newsletter and web-site.

Re-cycling Area

A half-dozen residents disliked the re-cycling area by the Mariners – an eyesore – and several wondered if it was needed now that glass and paper were collected house-to-house. The Council will discuss this with interested parties and Waverley DC to attempt to improve matters

6. Major Council Projects.

a) Rushmoor Community Project
Rushmoor has no church, school, village hall or sports facilities within the ward, and only a very low quality road linking it to the rest of the parish. The survey unsurprisingly reveals a lower level of community feeling or involvement within Rushmoor compared with Frensham Village (40% against 62%). Speeding traffic and parking issues along Tilford Rd also blight the village ‘centre’.

In an attempt to improve the centre and to provide an area where village amenities can gradually be introduced, the Council plan, if possible, to acquire the use of some land opposite the Post Office and to (initially) provide parking, a notice board and bus shelter, with a zebra crossing to the shops.

Several respondents asked for some amenity for young teenagers,

so we welcome suggestions as to what could be done.

b) Frensham Village Shop

Given the very strong support for the Frensham Post Office/shop (92.5%) with 71% of respondents using it daily or weekly, and the need to find a new site for this store, the Council will give high priority to finding a replacement site and assisting with the building of a slightly larger store with some parking and delivery space. Only 25% felt the current facilities were poor, but turnover & profit would be increased were there room to carry more stock lines. 60% thought the opening hours satisfactory, although 25% favoured more weekend opening. Some 30% had (limited) difficulties in getting to shops in Farnham or elsewhere, with several people commenting that this would get worse as they got older.

c) Information
This was not covered as such by the survey, but in analysing the response it was clear that many ratepayers have little knowledge of either the Council’s activities and remit or the activities of the parish’s sports and social clubs and village events. For example, many were unaware of the rationale behind the tree felling currently being done by the RSPB, and resulting increase in bird life, including woodlarks. The various amenities with the parish deserve to be more widely publicised to local residents, and as the recent proposals for sand quarrying have shown, there is a real need for local news to be quickly and easily disseminated. The Council will therefore put more effort and information into both its website, and its newsletter. Details of local clubs, sporting activities, and village events will be included, and we will look to produce a pamphlet of parish walks.

LCD, Feb 2005