Your Village, Your Voice - Recreation Strategy

The Parish Council have begun a project to determine what can be done to meet the recreation needs of the expanding village population, currently over 6,300 people.

Your Village Your Voice Latest News - Friday 29th October

The prize draw for the survey will take place, via Zoom, on Monday 1st November @ 6.00 pm as this will allow more people to attend, safely. Here is the link to the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89626984937?pwd=RTNhU1AzWDFsaThKeFVaMkI3UzRrZz09
Meeting ID: 896 2698 4937
Passcode: 750051

An interim report on the survey results has been posted on the Parish Council website at www.bidfordonavon-pc.gov.uk/recreation-strategy/.

You will see there are now a number of next steps for the project:

  • Completing the analysis of the 414 survey responses
  • Confirming the future plans of the parish’s existing venues and clubs
  • Visiting potential sites for future facilities
  • Preparing the first draft of a Parish Recreation Strategy including proposals for involving all the volunteers to help deliver the strategy
  • Presenting the draft strategy to a public meeting
  • Keeping residents informed and involved as the project develops

YOUR VILLAGE YOUR VOICE
Interim report on the parish recreation survey 25.10.21

Bidford-on-Avon Parish Council are researching what the village requires to meet the recreation needs of our growing community - both sporting and leisure, indoors and outdoors - all of which help to promote local health and wellbeing.

SURVEY RESPONSES

316 households have replied to the survey “Your Village Your Voice” online, with 102 returning hard copy responses. The 418 total represents a 13% response from the 3,125 households in the parish and is a statistically significant sample. Not every household responded to every question, leaving the impression that for some people some questions were not relevant to them.

While hard copy surveys were delivered to every household, the parish council announced that anyone who didn’t receive a copy for any reason could contact the parish clerk to ask for one.

LOCAL SATISFACTION

55% of responders who answered the question said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the current recreation opportunities in Bidford, with only 13.5% dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, and the remaining 31.5% neutral. However, 77% considered the parish needs a new leisure / youth activity centre, which provides a mandate for further work to determine what else might be achieved.

DEMAND FOR ACTIVITIES

61% of responders who answered the question said their preferred activity was not offered in the parish, and 55% said the activities currently on offer do not appeal.

Several survey questions helped to identify the detail of unmet demand. All survey responses will be properly reviewed, but the top 5 activities not offered were:

  • Swimming
  • Improved facilities for walking
  • Improved facilities for cycling
  • Badminton
  • Improved facilities for football

The considerable interest in better walking and cycling routes matches the current best-used locations as reported in the survey. These reported interests partly match the top 5 that people go outside the parish to enjoy:

  • Swimming
  • Gym
  • Walking
  • Football
  • Scouts, cubs & brownies

In terms of overall demand, whether currently offered or not, the top 15 outdoor activities that responders are interested in were:

ACTIVITY

UNDER 18

OVER 18

TOTAL (People)

Walking

36

230

266

Canoeing / Rowing

75

183

258

Cycling

66

161

227

Archery

69

126

195

Holiday activities for ages 5 - 16

140

19

159

Running

28

85

113

Orienteering

40

64

104

Athletics

50

40

90

Football

44

44

88

Netball

24

61

85

Rounders / Softball

37

48

85

BMX Biking

54

23

77

Golf

18

58

76

Scouts, cubs & brownies

68

8

76

Basketball

45

27

72

Over-18s interested in young people’s activities seem to be mostly parents or grandparents. The top 15 indoor activities were:

ACTIVITY

UNDER 18

OVER 18

TOTAL (People)

Swimming

100

299

399

Badminton

43

186

229

Exercise classes

18

199

217

Arts & Crafts

59

131

190

Yoga

13

165

178

Dancing

43

106

149

Gym

23

120

143

Holiday activities for ages 5 - 16

117

16

133

Table Tennis

23

101

124

Book Club

13

105

118

Amateur Dramatics

44

60

104

Music / Singing

33

71

104

Martial Arts

39

45

84

Camera Club

15

62

77

Squash

8

69

77

Within many of these activities there will of course be sub-divisions, such as different forms of canoeing, rowing, athletics, exercise classes, arts & crafts, dancing, music, singing and martial arts.

The top activities aside, all reported recreation interests will need some attention.

CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS

In order for activities to thrive, they need someone to organise them as well as a suitable venue. Several existing clubs and associations are already looking for improved or additional facilities, and their requirements need to be matched with the availability of existing venues and sites. Meanwhile in addition to existing organisers running sports like football and cricket, local residents have come forward offering to help develop the following activities:

  • Advice on a theatre / arts / crafts type facility
  • Amateur dramatics
  • Art / drawing / painting lessons
  • Bidford Guides (and Rainbows and Brownies)
  • Canoeing
  • Craft club (informal)
  • Crafts
  • Cycling
  • Drama, ceramic pottery skills
  • Environmental / wildlife walks and classes
  • Fitness and dance fitness classes for adults and children
  • Hockey
  • Kayaking
  • Kids crafts, flower arranging, drawing and painting
  • Martial arts
  • Playgroup
  • Rainbows / Brownies or other youth group
  • Rock Climbing
  • Singing / luncheon club / day activities for older people
  • St John Ambulance Badgers, Cadets and Adults
  • Table tennis

Others have offered to help with catering, cleaning and environmental work, and project management. Budding organisers for desired sports like archery, orienteering, athletics, netball, basketball and badminton will be very welcome to come forward, and there are activities which may not have made the top thirty above but which might still have enough interested people to develop a new club.

EARLY ANALYSIS

Many of the identified activities are already offered in the parish to a certain extent, with a range of improvements suggested in the survey responses for walking, cycling and football. Gym, yoga, martial arts and exercise facilities in the parish could possibly be further publicised, as well as arts and crafts activities, depending on the capacity of existing organised groups.

Other activities would require extended use of existing venues and facilities, such as open space used safely for archery, or the creation of new facilities such as for swimming, badminton and canoeing / rowing. The extension or creation of facilities could be helped by the organising time offered for activities including brownies, canoeing, drama, kayaking and fitness classes.

BUSINESS PLANNING

As well as serving unmet need, any new facility needs to be financially viable to survive. Grants for running costs are nowhere near as common as grants for capital works, and the parish council will only be able to offer measured financial support from the parish precept that every household pays.

To take the example of a new leisure / youth activity centre, a business plan would need to be developed that measures the running costs of a new centre against the level of projected income from centre users. There are many business models and much good practice that can be applied to this process. Showing that a centre can cover its running costs would be a major factor in raising the necessary funds to build it.

RECREATION STRATEGY

As with business planning for single projects, a comprehensive recreation strategy for the parish needs to interweave many diverse factors including:

  • The unmet demand for local recreation
  • Interest in forming new sporting clubs
  • Facilities to meet the demand – a combination of improvements to existing facilities and the potential for new facilities
  • Access requirements – both in terms of individuals, and location within the parish including cycle and walking links to existing and potential sites
  • The viability of any proposed new facilities in terms of usage and running costs, and options for long-term management
  • Design implications in response to climate change

The parish council’s project manager has been charged with developing the strategy in partnership with a council-sponsored working group and based on the survey responses, including reviewing the prospects for extended and new facilities.

OFFERS OF HELP

Several people have come forward through the survey to offer help:

Creating or maintaining a website/Twitter/Facebook/Instagram page

24

Helping manage finances

11

Helping with fundraising

49

Joining a committee and attending meetings

72

Organising sports events

16

Building development

7

Building maintenance

7

Running a new club 

23

This shows the invaluable level of interest in making improvements to recreation in Bidford, not least because some responders have ticked more than one box.

NEXT STEPS

Following the parish council meeting on Monday 25th October, the next steps in the project will be:

  • Completing the analysis of the survey responses
  • Confirming the future plans of the parish’s existing venues and clubs
  • Visiting potential sites for future facilities
  • Preparing the first draft of a parish recreation strategy, including proposals for involving all the volunteers to help deliver the strategy
  • Presenting the draft strategy to a public meeting
  • Keeping residents informed and involved as the project develops

If you have not already expressed interest in offering help of any kind, you may do so by contacting the parish clerk on info@bidfordonavon-pc.gov.uk

PRIZE DRAW

171 households asked to take part in the draw for the 5 prizes kindly offered by local businesses:

  • Free room clean - Cotswold Magic Carpets
  • £15 voucher - Fish & Chips at Seafoods
  • £10 voucher - The Village Café
  • £10 voucher - Osco’s at Blenheim Café
  • Bottle of champagne

Each entry has been given a unique number, and the draw will be carried out using a random numbers generator at a public Zoom meeting on November 1st from 6pm.

Recreation Survey

Report made to the Parish Council at its September Parish Council Meeting.

Bidford-on-Avon Parish Council are researching what the village requires to meet the recreation needs of our growing community - both sporting and leisure, indoors and outdoors - all of which help to promote local health and wellbeing.

Survey forms have been delivered to every household in the parish, but 233 households have already replied to the survey online.

Emerging results include:

  • Considerable interest in better walking and cycling routes, which matches the current best-used locations
  • Already 11 offers of help with new clubs including fitness and dance fitness for all ages, which matches 83 households already interested in exercise classes
  • Nearly 60% of households responding to the survey so far consider the parish needs a new leisure / youth activity centre

Following the analysis of hard copy as well as online responses, a more detailed report will be presented to the parish council meeting on Monday 25th October. This will lead into further discussion about a recreation strategy for the parish, when a number of aspects will be reviewed including:

  • The unmet demand for local recreation
  • Interest in forming new sporting clubs
  • Facilities to meet the demand – a combination of improvements to existing facilities and the potential for new facilities
  • Access requirements – both in terms of individuals, and location within the parish including cycle and walking links to existing and potential sites
  • The viability of any proposed new facilities in terms of usage and running costs, and options for long-term management
  • Design implications in response to climate change

The parish council would like to record its thanks to all the local businesses that have kindly given prizes for the prize draw, which will be drawn in October (date TBC) and the winners informed personally.

Long-term residents of Bidford will have noted the population increase over time:

  • 1971 – 2,822 (census)
  • 2001 – 4,830 (census)
  • 2011 – 5,350 (census)
  • 2019 – 6,316 (estimate, to be confirmed by the 2021 census)

The Parish Council have appointed experienced parish clerk Andrew Maliphant to take the project forward, with a remit to:

  • Quantify the recreation needs of the expanding village population
  • Consult with current clubs and venues about their own aspirations
  • Review local green sites
  • Help to develop recreation facilities as shown to be required
  • Involve all local residents in the process

A survey of youth requirements in 2019 concluded:

  • Responses from the consultation identified gaps in community provision for young people, particularly teenagers.
  • A new Youth Centre will help to address this gap.
  • Not all young people will want to attend a Youth Centre; a Youth and Engagement Leader will be able to identify other suitable activities for young people and help to integrate young people into existing activities.
  • Another clear priority was a desire across all age groups for increased access to physical and outdoor activity, with many ideas for activities being promulgated.Big Meadow Welcome Sign

The next step is to send a wider recreation survey to every household in the parish, to collate the needs and aspirations of all local residents, many of whom have arrived in the parish since 2019. The results of the survey will be used to prepare a draft recreation strategy for the Parish Council to discuss with parishioners during Autumn 2021.

For further information please contact Mrs Elisabeth Uggerløse the Parish Clerk on 07718 628925 or via info@bidfordonavon-pc.gov.uk – we look forward to being in touch.