Parish Appraisal 1999 - 2000

At the start of the new millennium a comprehensive appraisal of the population and facilities within Colden Common Parish was carried out to take stock of who we were living in this community and what we all hoped for the future. The Appraisal might highlight the need for changes and also serve as an historical record for the millennium. The illustration (left) was used as the logo for the Appraisal and large signboards showing this logo were displayed at strategic positions around the village in late 1999.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An appraisal is a survey of an area carried out by the people who live or work there. It is a way of gathering facts and opinions about the community from local people themselves and gives every person the opportunity to express their views about the issues that affect them most. An appraisal can be conducted in a village, parish or urban community. The results become an important start-point for actions to be taken to improve life for local people.

The most popular method of doing an appraisal is by distributing a questionnaire to every household or individual. There are, however, other methods that could be used, including interviews or using a video camera.

Every appraisal will be unique to its area, and anyone can initiate one, whether it is the Parish Council, WI, or a group of interested individuals.

 

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Introduction

"The population of Colden Common has grown enormously since the 1960s."

An initial Public Open Meeting was held in September 1998; this was followed by the formation of an Appraisal Team who have worked together since then and have produced the final report.

The aim was to take stock and plan for the future. Funding or assistance was obtained from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Colden Common Parish Council, European Social Fund, EXTRA/British Gas, Hampshire County Council, Rural Links, The Hampshire Chronicle Group and from Winchester City Council.

The report covers not only Colden Common, but includes Brambridge, Fisher's Pond, Hensting, Highbridge and Nob's Crook.

The village has a Parish Church, the Parish Hall, the Methodist Chapel, a Primary School and the Community Centre. There are public houses, several shops including a Post Office and also a Doctors' Surgery and a Dental Practice. Sports facilities include the Recreation Ground, Colden Common Park and, for indoor use, the Community Centre.

Councils and Services

Hampshire County Council has the responsibility for the highways in the area, education, waste management social services, transport and the library service.

"78.3% were not prepared to pay a slightly higher Council Tax and 49.3% did not know how their Council Tax was spent. "

The Hampshire Police Authority is partly funded by Council Tax payers. Although there is no longer a Police House in the village, the area is covered by the Twyford Police Station for an hour each morning and evening and outside these times calls are transferred to the headquarters in Winchester.

The ambulance service provided by the Hampshire Ambulance NHS Trust operates from Winchester Hospital. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service covers this area from the full time station in Eastleigh.

"12.1 % rated the Police as 'poor' but the figure
was only 0.3%for the Ambulance Service."

The Parish Council, made up of twelve members with a part-time clerk, holds monthly meetings; these meetings are open to the public.

The Council's overall responsibility includes sports fields and recreation facilities, grass cutting, some street lighting, dog faeces bins, Clerk's salary, caretakers for the Recreation Ground and Colden Common Park, play equipment and some grants to village organisations.

"The centre of the village shows a much higher concern than
the outer areas for both liner and dog mess."

Colden Common covers a large area and most households own a car or van. Few people use the buses; most use their own transport for travel to their place of work, shopping or for taking children to school. A car sharing scheme is not very popular.

"66% of respondents favour a 30 mph speed limit."

Youth and Education

For the past six years, Colden Common has had a Youth Parish Council acting as a 'voice' of the youth. The Council has been responsible for the development of some recreational facilities.

A project, The Detached Youth Work Project, employing two part-time workers, makes contact with young people in the area and helps them to identify their needs and provides activity opportunities. The project is proving very successful.

There are two Toddler groups and two Pre-school playgroups meeting regularly. There has been a Primary School in the village since 1840 and there are now 264 children on the roll.

From the questionnaire, there are 121 children attending various Secondary schools; most attend Kings School in Winchester. The Woodside Centre, for children excluded from main stream education, takes children from a wide area outside Colden Common.

The Parish offers a number of facilities for the youth but, apart from tennis and football, most are underused. However, many clubs, including Guides and Scouts, are very successful.

"Do the youth of today have no time, or does the village offer the wrong facilities?"

"With young people, tennis is more popular than football and cricket combined."

The Community Centre would be the preferred location for Adult Education classes. The school would also be a popular venue.

"In one area, 93% of respondents would prefer attending the Community Centre for classes."

Facilities

The mobile library visits the village weekly but, from the replies received, it is not well supported. It would seem that a permanent library might be better used.

The nearest cash dispenser is in Fair Oak and it would seem that one in the village would be used by about half of the residents who replied.

The questionnaire asked if a coffee shop would be used, but the response suggested only occasional use by a few! However, the possibility of a petrol station was much better received.

There are several mobile hairdressers serving the village but many people said they would not use a salon in the village. Some respondents said they would occasionally use a hardware store.

Most would make use of a chemist but this would probably necessitate the withdrawal of the dispensing service currently operated by the Twyford Doctors' Surgery.

"30.7% indicated they would use a petrol station on a weekly basis."

There are garages for the sales, servicing and MOT of cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles both petrol and diesel. Other shops cover most needs including general foods; fruit and vegetables; newspapers; fresh bread, pies and cakes. There are off licences, Facilities for video hire and for buying lottery tickets.

The Post Office, as well as providing the usual post office services, is very well used. Other businesses include a garden centre incorporating a pet shop, a lighting centre, a Chinese takeaway and also shops offering antiques, beauty treatments and sports equipment.

New and used caravans and caravan equipment can be bought and there is storage for touring caravans. What else could Colden Common need!

There are two Churches in Colden Common - The Parish Church of Holy Trinity and the Methodist Church in Spring Lane. The Parish Church has a Vicarage and 'Church Rooms' - this was formerly the Church School.

"89.9% of all respondents do not regularly attend a church in Colden Common."

The two churches work together and provide facilities for a mother and toddler group, a playgroup, Brownies, Guides, Boys Brigade, W.l., yoga, an upholstery club and the newly formed computer club.

There are good facilities for sport and recreation including children's playgrounds, tennis courts, football and cricket pitches, a trim trail, a bowls green and a BBQ area. Keep fit and aerobics are very popular but rambling/walking was reported to be the most popular recreational activity; overall the footpaths in the area are well known and used regularly.

There are six pubs and restaurants in the area. Fifty households benefit from the use of the allotments and there are facilities for recycling in the village although for local amenity tips for household waste residents must go to Winchester, Eastleigh or Fair Oak.

"38.9% thought the recycling scheme service to be good."

There is mains water and electricity in the village and gas is available to most houses. However, there are reports that the water supply is poor and there are frequent electricity cuts. Radio reception is good, but some areas report problems with television reception.

The Community Association is the 'umbrella' organisation within the village. The Neighbourhood Watch provides an important safeguard to property and other belongings. The Community Care Group gives help, whenever possible, to anyone in need.

See details of all village organisations by visiting the Local Groups page.

The Lunch Club provides meals for elderly people. The Friendship Club has speakers on various interesting subjects and also arranges coach outings and a Christmas party for the older members of the community.

Breakaway is a group for mostly elderly ladies who enjoy meeting for a social gathering with tea and cakes. The Ladies Group has monthly meetings, speakers, a ramble in May and also a Christmas party. There is an evening W.l. so the ladies have plenty of choice!

Mums and Tots are welcome at meetings at the Methodist Church and there is also a Trinity Mothers, Babies and Toddlers group. Also for the small children there is a Rainbow Playgroup and a Preschool Playgroup. So there are several opportunities for mothers with young children.

There is one Rainbow Unit for the youngest girls, two Brownie Guide units and one Guide Unit; they meet at the Community Centre, the Methodist Hall and in the Church Rooms. For the boys, there is a Scout Group comprising a Beaver Colony, a Cub Pack, a Scout Troop and a Venture Unit. There is also a Boys' Brigade Company and the Detached Youth Work Project. In all, there seems to be a wide range of activities for the young.

Colden Common has been twinned with St. Vigor le Grand in France; the Twinning Association welcomes new members of all ages. Regular coach trips are organised during the summer.

There is a relatively new Gardening Club which holds monthly meetings. An environmental group, The Woodpeckers, works to try to care for and preserve the local environment.

Nearly forty people were interested in computing; a Computer Club has just been formed. A pantomime is staged in January by the Drama and Music Group.

The Bridge Club meets in the Community Centre and the Yoga class is held at the Church Rooms. This is very popular and more classes have been requested. On a more active note, the Bowling Club has indoor and outdoor facilities. There is a Badminton Club, a Youth Football Club, a Cricket Club, Junior Tennis and a Football Club.

Communication round the village is by word of mouth, notice boards and a Village Newsletter produced quarterly which the questionnaire found to be a popular form of communication. News is also gleaned from The Extra, a free newspaper. In addition a Welcome Pack is designed to be delivered to newcomers to the village.

"The Village Newsletter is read by 87.1 % of respondents - 1,556 people!"

There are ten letterboxes in the village and the telephone box provision seems adequate. Letters and parcels are delivered daily.

There has been rapid growth over the last ten years and most people think the village is now 'full'.

"In one area 84% of respondents to the questionnaire
thought that more houslng would spoil the village"

See details of all village organisations by visiting the Local Groups page.

As a result of analysing the answers on the questionnaires, it has been noted that there were requests for more yoga classes; this has been passed to the Adult Education to action.

As a result of respondents requests, a new Computer Club has been formed.

Fifty small businesses responded to the suggestion of having a Business Directory; this has now been produced.

The Parish Appraisal Team were asked to take part in the Millennium Celebrations being planned by Winchester City Council Eight youngsters from the village have spent time making a film under the heading of the 'Environment' using computer equipment. They completed a film called 'Burnt and Buried' which was shown at the launch of this report in September 2000.

Some changes have been planned to develop The Green. One of the aims of this Appraisal was to gather views to be taken into account in the future planning and development of the area. Hopefully, some green areas will be retained to prevent Colden Common being linked to other villages by filling in the gaps.

This is only a brief summary of the full report. Copies of the Appraisal, which runs into over 30 pages and contains detailed tables of statistics and charts, can be purchased from Jenny Gray 01962 713784 Price: £2.50 (to include post and packing.

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© Colden Common Parish Council 2004. This page last updated 12 February 2004