The Thatcham Survey 2006 Results and Commentary

1. The Thatcham Survey2006Results and Commentary

2. Background • The Thatcham Vision project is one of a number of parish planning exercises taking place across West Berkshire • The aim of parish planning is to involve communities in improving their town or village • Over 80 volunteers are working on developing the Thatcham Vision Action plan • More details of the project are available from www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

3. Consultation • It is vital that the Thatcham Vision action plan is based on a good understanding of the needs and aspirations of the community • Considerable effort has been devoted to consulting the public • This presentation contains the results of our largest consultation exercise, the Thatcham Survey • Details of other consultation exercises are available from our website and local libraries www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

4. The Thatcham Survey • This was our major quantitative survey • Most of the questions included tick box responses so that the results could be analysed statistically • We also conducted qualitative surveys of various kinds, in which people were asked for comments and ideas • No consultation method is perfect, but we have approached consultation in a number of different ways which has enabled us to build a good understanding of needs and aspirations • Further surveys will be needed in the future as the Vision is developed to cover new topic areas www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

5. Methodology • The questionnaire was distributed on 28th March 2006 as a supplement to a local newspaper • The questions were based on the results of early qualitative consultation exercises and the emerging work of topic teams which were looking at a range of topics related to Thatcham’s future • The supplement also included brief background items on topics covered in the questionnaire and other information • A copy can be downloaded from our website www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

6. Methodology - continued • The questionnaire was also made available online • 5,000 additional copies of the questionnaire were printed and made available at the railway station, town centre shops, schools and numerous other locations www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

7. Responses • A total of 838 responses were received by the closing date of 10th May • Not all respondents gave their post code, but based on those that did the most respondents live in the parish of Thatcham • This level of response provides a good statistical basis for drawing conclusions about the views of the population as a whole • A more detailed analysis of the statistical significance of these results will be made available from our website www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

8. Analysis and commentary • The slides which follow show charts summarising the responses • At the time of the survey, six topic teams had been working since the previous autumn and most of the questions relate to these topics • In addition to the overall response to each question, breakdowns by age and length of residence in Thatcham are shown, usually where there are significant differences www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

9. The Town Centre A thriving town centre is vital to the future of Thatcham, as it is to any town. The town centre topic team are exploring a number of initiatives and the survey tested feelings about some of them as well as asking for general views about specific aspects of the centre.

10. Develop a plan for improving the town centre 86% of respondents agree or strongly agree that a plan should be developed to improve the town centre. Our separate town centre survey indicated that the community’s highest priority is for more, and more varied, shops www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

11. Develop a plan for improving the town centre An analysis of responses to this question, based on length of residence in Thatcham, shows that those who have lived in the town for two years or less have the strongest views on this issue, with 91% agreeing strongly or agreeing. (In the remainder of this presentation the percentage agreeing or agreeing strongly will be referred to as ‘agree’.) www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

12. Build a community facility in the town centre An early proposal from the town centre topic team was the development of a new facility in the town centre which could include a bigger library, an internet café and other facilities. 78% of respondents agree with this proposal. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

13. Build a community facility in the town centre As this chart shows, those who have lived in Thatcham for less than two years again had the strongest views, with 85% agreeing. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

14. Build a community facility in the town centre Under 25s had the strongest views on this, with 85% agreeing, but the proposal is popular across all age groups. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

15. Keep the existing Friday market Exploring other aspects of the town centre, 82% are in favour of keeping the existing Friday market, which takes place in the Broadway. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

16. Keep the existing Friday market Once again, strength of feeling is highest amongst those who have recently moved to Thatcham: 90% agree. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

17. Keep the existing Friday market Considering responses by age, views are very similar across all age groups. The strongest agreement was from those aged 65 and over who, with 84% agreeing, were marginally ahead of other age groups. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

18. Transport and Access Transport and access causes particular problems in Thatcham, as responses to questions related to rising heavy goods vehicle (HGV) traffic through and around the town demonstrate. Road safety and views related to Thatcham’s level crossing were also covered in the survey.

19. How do you travel to your location of work or study? Low levels of bus travel to places of work or study (more people walk) is of particular interest and partly reflects the poor state of Thatcham’s bus network. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

20. Reduce HGV movements along the A4 The A4 effectively cuts Thatcham in two and increasing HGV movements not only cause congestion but also generate air and noise pollution. 71% thought that measures should be taken to reduce HGV movements on the A4. This won’t be easy to achieve because of the large number of distribution depots adjacent to the A4 at Colthrop. 71% agree with this proposition. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

21. Reduce HGV movements along the A4 Views about this were strongest in Thatcham West ward www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

22. Stop HGVs using Crookham Hill HGV traffic over the level crossing and on Crookham Hill causes particular problems. This road is acknowledged by West Berkshire Council’s Highways Department to be unsuitable for HGVs and 72% agree with the need to stop HGVs using it. As with the first slide on this topic, a relatively high proportion of respondents have no opinion and it is possible that many of these are not affected by this issue. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

23. Stop HGVs using Crookham Hill Again, those in the ward in which the road is located unsurprisingly have the strongest views with 81% agreeing. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

24. Reduce HGV movements on other roads in Thatcham HGV traffic through and around the town inevitably has consequences for other roads. 79% agree that HGV traffic movements generally around the town should be reduced. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

25. Reduce HGV movements on other roads in Thatcham Thatcham South and Crookham residents have the strongest views on this, with 83% agreeing. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

26. Introduce further measures to improve road safety While reducing HGV movements will be a major challenge, improvements in road safety are an ongoing concern for many and local measures can be taken. 66% agree that they should be, although numbers disagreeing – 36% – are significant. It is possible that this reflects of those who live in areas where measures like road-humps, which are rarely popular, have been implemented. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

27. Introduce further measures to improve road safety Thatcham’s senior citizens have the strongest views on this, with 76% of those aged 65 and over agreeing. Evidence from consultation exercises conducted in schools suggests that school children of all ages have very strong views about this topic (see the Databank link on our website for more details) and have major concerns about road safety. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

28. Introduce further measures to improve road safety Residents from Thatcham West have the strongest views on this, with 71% agreeing, although views are similar across the town. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

29. Investigate the feasibility of introducing a dial-a-ride bus service to hospitals Getting to the general hospitals in Reading, Basingstoke and Oxford that serve Thatcham can be a major problem, particularly if you are visiting relatives or friends and don’t own a car. 78% agree with the proposal that the feasibility of a dial-a-ride service should be investigated. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

30. Investigate the feasibility of introducing a dial-a-ride bus service to hospitals Views on this varied quite significantly by ward, with 89% of those in Thatcham West agreeing with this proposal. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

31. Encourage employers to implement green transport plans Poor bus services, higher levels of car ownership than elsewhere in West Berkshire, poor bus provision and the fact that many people who live in Thatcham work elsewhere result in many journeys being made by car. 80% of respondents agree that as many employers as possible should implement green transport plans to help reduce the damaging environmental consequences of car use. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

32. Build more distribution depots in Thatcham A major cause of the high and growing levels of HGV traffic in Thatcham is that there are many distribution depots in the town. Nearly 20% of the town’s built-up area is taken up by the Colthrop industrial estate and it is the location of many distribution depots. Only 16% want to see more and 67% disagree with this proposition. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

33. Should an eastern bypass be built at Colthrop? Frustration with Thatcham’s level crossing which is on the only route out of the town to the south, figured strongly in our qualitative surveys. Some 67% of respondents agreed with the proposition that an ‘eastern bypass’ should be built. However, this responses conflicts with the overwhelming wish of respondents to protect the countryside around Thatcham. Building a bypass would have major detrimental impact on the countryside and recent studies have indicated that it would attract more traffic to Thatcham’s roads. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

34. Should an eastern bypass be built at Colthrop? Opinions about this didn’t vary significantly based on length of residence. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

35. Should an eastern bypass be built at Colthrop? Residents in Thatcham North had the strongest views on this subject, with 78% of them agreeing. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

36. If a new eastern bypass was built would you use it? There were quite wide differences of opinion about this based on the wards in which respondents live. 82% of Thatcham North residents said that they would use an eastern bypass but those in Thatcham South and Crookham were least likely to do so. This may be because it would be residents in this part of Thatcham who would adversely suffer from increasing traffic likely to use such a new road. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

37. Homes and Housing It was decided to defer detailed work on this topic until after the publication of the first action plan. Like health and wellbeing, schooling and other topics not yet considered, in detail this is obviously an important aspect of life in Thatcham but they require more time and effort than we had available during our first year. However, views about homes and housing were sought in the survey.

38. Option A: Build only within the already built-up area West Berkshire Council’s Local Development Framework – which is essentially a strategic plan for the future of West Berkshire – recognises that Thatcham’s infrastructure and services seriously lags behind the rapid increase in the town’s population. But recognising some new housing is inevitable, this question asked where people would like to see any new homes built. 76% opted for building within the already built-up area… www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

39. Option B: Build only within the already built-up area Only 8% thought that all development should take place solely on greenfield sites. … www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

40. Option C: Build only within the already built-up area … and for 31%, the first preference was that a balance of infilling and greenfield development. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

41. Build more homes which are suitable for senior citizens, key workers and those on low incomes 68% agreed that more affordable housing is needed: an issue across West Berkshire given the very high cost of homes. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

42. Build more homes which are suitable for senior citizens, key workers and those on low incomes Perhaps unsurprisingly those who have lived in Thatcham for more than 10 years – some of whom will have family members seeking homes in the area - have the strongest views on this, with 74% agreeing. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

43. Build more homes which are suitable for senior citizens, key workers and those on low incomes Again, looking at responses by age, the 65s and over have the strongest views with 88% agreeing. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

44. Replace some older stock with larger numbers of modern houses with small gardens Infilling, or ‘pepper potting’ is unpopular, with only 33% agreeing that this is desirable. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

45. Replace some older stock with larger numbers of modern houses with small gardens Here are the responses based on length of residence: 26% of those who have lived in Thatcham for 2 years or less agree. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

46. Build more low-rise blocks of flats One way of increasing housing density in Thatcham would be to build more low-rise apartments. Local housing associations would be keen to do this so that they can make more efficient use of the land they own, but only 29% agree that this should be done www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

47. Build more low-rise blocks of flats Responses based on length of residence are quite similar. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

48. Provision for Senior Citizens Two of the Vision’s topic teams considered the needs of specific age groups. The senior citizens topic team had two major ideas that they wanted to test via the questionnaire.

49. Investigate the feasibility of building a senior citizens centre in Thatcham Although rare in the UK, senior citizens centres – which provide a comprehensive range of facilities for older people – exist in many other countries and the senior citizens topic team have proposed that one is provided in Thatcham. 78% of respondents agree that this should be looked at. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk

50. Investigate the feasibility of building a senior citizens centre in Thatcham The strongest support was from those who have lived in Thatcham for over 10 years, with 83% of them supporting the proposed feasibility study. www.thatchamshapethefuture.org.uk