Daresbury, Moore, Preston Brook and Hale
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DRAFT A Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy for Daresbury, Moore, Preston Brook and Hale Figure 1 Introduction Figure 1 above shows the location of the wards of Daresbury, Moore, Preston Brook and Hale. This Panel area is the only one that is split geographically, but it contains five villages of similar character - one, Hale is situated to the west of Widnes, while the other four are all situated to the east of Runcorn. The township of Hale is situated between Liverpool and Widnes. It is a picturesque village stretching back to the middle ages. Its most famous citizen is probably the Childe of Hale - a giant of a man who wrestled the King’s Champion in the time of James I. Today the village has a wide range of housing types ranging from large detached thatched houses to small cottages. Daresbury ward contains four villages Moore, Daresbury, Preston on the Hill and Preston Brook. They smaller villages that grew up along the old route of the A56 - the Warrington to Chester road. Moore is also located on the Bridgewater Canal, which was constructed in the 1770s by the Duke of Bridgewater and connected the Mersey at Runcorn to Warrington and beyond to Manchester. Daresbury’s most famous citizen is thought to be Lewis Carroll, born at the parsonage in 1832 who went on to write Alice in Wonderland. Preston Brook and Daresbury also have important canal frontages within the Borough. 1 The combined population for this area is 3,591 (based on mid-year 2001 estimates) which is fairly evenly spread across the two wards of Daresbury (1,590) and Hale (1,880) Area Forums Area forums were set up in 2001 as a way of bridging the gap between key agencies working within the Borough. Your Area Forum is led by local councillors and supported by a senior officer from the Council. It’s not just a council affair though, it’s your Area Panel. Increasingly other important partner organisations such as the Police, Health Authority as well as voluntary sector bodies will be using the Area Panels to listen to your views and to help keep you and your community informed of local developments. But they are not just talking shops. Some of the Neighbourhood Renewal Funding as well as money from Halton Borough Council, has been given to the Area Forums to spend on small scale projects that are identified by the community. Your Area Panel is led by local councillors and supported by a senior officer from the Council. It’s not just a council affair though, it’s your Area Panel. Increasingly other important partner organisations such as the Police, Health Authority as well as voluntary sector bodies will be using the Area Panels to listen to your views and to help keep you and your community informed of local developments. During 2002/03 Area Panels in Halton received an allocation of money from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. This money has been used on projects across the panel area and will contribute directly to addressing your concerns and priorities. These include Hale - Improved pedestrian safety initiatives are being developed for Town Lane Daresbury – Gates were provided at the car park next to the church Preston Brook – Access to the Village Hall was improved Moore – Planting of an area of open space between the village and Manor Park Identifying Local Issues and Concerns In order to improve the quality of life for local residents Halton have identified five key priorities for the Borough. These are:- • Improving Health Standards • Promoting Urban Renewal • Enhancing Life Chances and Employment • Tackling Poverty and Deprivation 2 • Ensuring Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods These priorities have formed a basis for the Community and Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy for Halton and a number of actions have been identified to address these issues. However things may need to be done differently in different areas in the borough and a more localised approach is also required and this is where a Local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy for Daresbury, Moore, Preston Brook and Hale fits in. Consultation has been carried out with local residents to identify the local issues that relate to the above priorities. The consultation process included:- • Community Development Workers consulting community groups • Surveys to voluntary groups • Focus Groups with local residents • Larger telephone survey of local residents • School children and young people via school councils The telephone survey showed that 89% of residents within this panel area were satisfied with the neighbourhood in which they lived which was the highest figure for any of the panel areas. The most important attributes to quality of life were law and order , financial situation, health and lifestyle and preservation of green belt. Health The average age of the population in these wards tends to be older than the Borough generally, however the wards of Daresbury and Hale have significantly lower death rates than the Halton average and lower than the national average. In a recent telephone survey of local residents from this area panel, 56% of residents agreed to some extent that it is easy to get a Doctor’s appointment and only 32% had difficulty. This is the highest positive response and lowest negative across the Borough suggesting that access to a GP is easiest from within these wards. Consultation with focus groups from these wards also raised other issues such as concern about links between ill heath and air pollution and lack of Accident and Emergency facilities within the Borough. Residents currently have to travel to Warrington or Whiston Hospital for emergency treatment and there was concern that the extra travel time could have serious implications for patients. Residents from Daresbury felt that they were ‘healthy and happy’ living in a more rural location, although residents from Moore expressed concern about the flies from the tip in the area. There was also concern from residents about the effect of high pollen levels from rapeseed etc, which surrounded these more rural areas and any associated health effects. Dog fouling was also raised as an issue affecting health with some residents having problems with dogs fouling their gardens as well as public areas. 3 What is being done? There are already a number of initiatives throughout the Borough aimed at improving health and well-being. In order to identify the underlying causes of ill health within Halton the Halton Strategic Partnership Board has commissioned research with Lancaster University. The findings which are expected in Autumn 2003, will enable the health authority to better plan future services. A number of initiatives are also underway to improve health and well being of vulnerable adults with an emphasis on older people. These initiatives are aimed at reducing hospital emission and re-admission rates and increasing the availability of support packages. The long term benefits of this initiative will not only improve the quality of life for older people but will also reduce reliance on NHS resources. We are also committed to working with our partners in the Health service to ensure that communication takes place between residents and service providers and to ensure that service providers are aware of residents issues and concerns and are able to respond to them through the area panels. Urban Renewal Transforming the physical environment of the Borough is a key strategic priority for both the Borough Council and the Halton Strategic Partnership Board. Over recent years Halton has benefited from significant private and public investment through sources such as Europe and the Single Regeneration Budget. An extensive and challenging programme of Urban Renewal Projects are already underway throughout the borough which aim to regenerate, enhance and improve the overall image and quality of life for local people and potential investors. This panel area is situated in a more rural setting than the rest of the Borough and residents generally choose to live there for this reason. This is supported through recent consultation carried out with residents from this area, 25% of residents described their area as pleasant, which compares to just 10% in area panels 2 and 5. 98% of those questioned in the telephone survey agreed to some extent that preservation of greenbelt/open space was very important to their quality of life and in the focus group there was concern over the scale of development at Daresbury Park. Maintaining their rural environment is therefore a key issue for these residents. The focus group consultation raised improved shopping facilities, restaurants and activities for young people as key issues although residents were prepared to travel to access such facilities. Hale in particular wanted improvements to the quality of their local shops so as to provide more of a focus for the local community. However in the telephone survey just 43% of people in this area agreed strongly that the quality of shopping facilities was important to their quality of life compared to a Borough average of 64% Much of the housing in this panel area is in private ownership, which is significantly different to the Borough average. The 1991 census showed that 83.8% of housing in the area was in owner occupation compared to 62.8% average for the Borough. 3.6% of households were in Council or New Town rented accommodation compared to a 4 Borough average of 25% and 0.4% of housing was housing Association accommodation compared to a Borough average of 8.1%. In the telephone survey just 43% of residents agreed strongly that housing and accommodation were very important to their quality of life, compared to a Borough average of 62%. Tenants at the focus group however were concerned about lengthy waiting times for repairs What is being Done? Daresbury Business Park, Daresbury Laboratory and Daresbury Science Park are key regional development sites located within this panel area.