17 Lipson & Laira

PLYMOUTH SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOODS STUDY Criteria notes in red gives a summary of guidance only – refer to notes above for full guidance. Neighbourhood Area: 17 Lipson & Laira Objective Achieves Comments Options for consideration by PCC objective? 1. A community with thriving mixed use centres. A sustainable neighbourhood should have clear & identifiable local & neighbourhood centres, with access to jobs, education, healthcare, leisure, retail and public transport & open space. 1.1 Is there a range of community facilities, consistent with the The neighbourhood has a moderate range of facilities, which • Consultation with the community to ascertain need for neighbourhood population? correlates with the moderate population size. In addition to missing facilities. Criteria: shops, there are two churches, one pub and one nursery, two • If new facilities are provided, consider the topography Facilities include shops, religious meeting places, community primary schools and a community college. There is a when deciding on their location. halls, scout huts etc. community sports centre located on the college campus. • Consideration of options on site of burned down The neighbourhood lacks healthcare facilities (aside from a community centre east of Mount Gould Road. pharmacy) and a community centre. Some residents may have difficulty accessing local shops due to the steep topography of the neighbourhood. The average distance people are prepared to walk to local facilities is severely reduced because of the steep gradient. 1.2 Are community facilities grouped to create identifiable local & The majority of the community facilities are located on flat land, • Existing facilities in Lipson and Laira are fairly neighbourhood centres? while the residential areas climb the sides of the valley. dispersed along the main road. Consider strengthening There are 2 local centres at either end of the main road running local and neighbourhood centers by locating future through the neighbourhood. facilities in the existing centres to reinforce their • Old Laira Road - In the east there is a loose centre identity. consisting of a small convenience store, barbers shop, library, church and beauticians. Spread out, further along the road there is also a pub and pharmacy. Running adjacent to Old Laira Road, Bramley Road contains a High-Tech systems shop and another convenience store next to a primary school. There are almost sufficient facilities to qualify as a neighbourhood centre, but as they are so spread out, it functions more like a local centre. • Percy Terrace – Originally Percy Terrace was a more diverse and important local centre. In the last decade, many shops have closed down and the frontages converted into housing. Today there remains 3 shops; two takeaways and a door fitting shop. Together with a convenience shop located in a filling station on the same side of the road, this makes up a separate local centre. 1.3 Are the current catchment populations sufficient to support the The current population of Lipson and Laira is 5577, just above • Consider topography when locating any new facilities. local & neighbourhood centres? the minimum recommended figure to support 1 neighbourhood Criteria: centre or 2 average sized local centres. Local centres - pop.2,000 – 5,000 (av. 3,500) Neighbourhood centres - pop. 5,000-9,000 (av. 7,000) Local centres: • Old Laira Road has a catchment area of 5 ha giving a figure of 504 people within a 250 metre walk of the centre. • Percy Terrace has a catchment area of just under 5 ha producing a figure of 428, although the majority of these come from outside Lipson and Laira. Both these figures are substantially below the lowest catchment population necessary to support a local centre. This is largely due to the topography preventing a larger walking catchment. However, this is a good amount of centres for the population and is important to at least maintain existing facilities. 1.4 Are people able to work locally? 2670 people (aged 16-74, including unemployed) are • Consider any employment opportunities in the Criteria: economically active in Lipson and Laira. However, there are neighbourhood. • Good – job ratio above 1.0 only 1051 jobs within the neighbourhood. This gives a poor job • Look at ways to improve access including public • Moderate – job ratio between 0.7 to 1.0 ratio score of 0.39. This shows there are little available transport to nearby employment areas. • Poor – job ratio below 0.7 employment opportunities within the neighbourhood. This is reflected in the fact that, with the exception of the railway maintenance depot, the area is primarily residential in character. 70% travel to work by car, exceeding the Plymouth and national averages (63.5% and 61.5% respectively). This supports the idea that not many residents are employed within the neighbourhood and they have to travel out for work. 1.5 Are education facilities in close proximity to local & The neighbourhood contains Lipson Community College which • No particular issues to address. th neighbourhood centres? teaches children up to 6 Form level as well as offering Access • Consider if more nursery provision is needed. Criteria: Courses and Evening Classes. There is also the adjoining ‘Education facilities’ include crèche, primary schools (junior and Lipson Primary School and Laira Green Primary School to the infants), secondary schools and tertiary education centres. north. There is one nursery off Old Laira Road. 1.6 Are there places for formal sports, play & informal recreation? There are 6 publicly accessible open spaces with • Maintain current facilities. Criteria: Neighbourhood Importance for Informal Recreation, 1 of District Open space categories 1 (informal recreation) & 2 (sport and Importance and 1 of City Importance. formal recreation) and play areas: • Good – more than one area of both category 1 & 2, of District There are 2 areas of importance for Sport and Formal or above importance, and areas for play. Recreation, 1 of Neighbourhood Importance and 1 of District • Moderate = at least one area of both category 1 & 2, of Importance. Neighbourhood or above importance, and at least one play There is also a small basketball court and a number of small area. playgrounds in the area. • Poor = less than one area of both categories 1 & 2. 1.7 Are there places to meet and socialise for all ages & interest There are a range of places for meeting and socialising within • Consultation with the community regarding meeting groups? the neighbourhood. These include parks, playgrounds, a sports places for adults. Criteria: centre and the basketball court. The library and churches are • Consider options for replacement of destroyed Community centres, shopping centres, pubs, squares and public also important places for socialising. However the there is only community centre. parks within the neighbourhood. one pub in the neighbourhood and the two small local shopping centres are not well designed for meeting places as they are located on a busy road. One community centre has been burned down. 2. A balanced community A sustainable neighbourhood means a balanced community set within a safe and healthy environment. It should comprise a well- integrated mix of decent homes of different types and tenures to support a range of household sizes, ages and incomes. 2.1 Does existing housing stock provide a range of different tenures Owner occupation is very slightly below the national average • Consider need for detached properties in any new and types, with a good mix of social and private housing? (68.0% to 68.9%) but above the Plymouth average (63.8%). development to improve the mix of housing types. Criteria: (10.8%) of households rent from the council, lower than • Ensure there is a range of mix and type of housing in 1. Balance of public/ private housing stock national and Plymouth averages. The proportion renting from any new development. 2. Mix of different types social landlords and housing associations is just higher than average at 6.7% compared to a general average of 5.8% in • Good – Good balance & mix. Plymouth. • Moderate – Average balance & mix. • Poor – Poor balance & mix. At 20.2% the proportion of flats is just above the national average of 19.2% while the figure for semi-detached properties is 31.7% against a national figure of 31.6%. There is a much lower percentage of detached properties (4.5% to 22.8%) and correspondingly higher numbers of terraced properties (43.8% to 26.0%). 2.2 Are different types & tenures well integrated across the Terraced properties are located throughout the older, • Ensure social and market housing are integrated in any neighbourhood? established parts of the neighbourhood, generally on the flat or new development. the lower valley slopes Local authority built housing consists of semi detached houses, modern terraces and large blocks of flats. These are located on the higher parts of the valley. The majority of local authority housing is in the southern part of Lipson and Laira. 2.3 Does the neighbourhood have an appropriate balance of The figures for economic activity in the neighbourhood are very • Not an overriding problem, but could be improved by economic activity? similar to the national averages. provision of employment opportunities. Criteria: • Good – Above national average employment rate, and below In Lipson and Laira 60.2% of the resident population aged 16 to national average unemployment rate. 74 are in employment compared to a national average of • Moderate – Around national average employment and 60.6%. Unemployment stands at 3.6% against a figure of 3.4% unemployment rate. for England and Wales. • Poor – Below national average employment rate and above national average unemployment rate. 2.4 Is there social deprivation? Overall Lipson and Laira’s performance is reasonable, scoring • Consider any areas within the neighbourhood where Criteria: 20% and being ranked 13th worst neighbourhood out of 43. crime is a concern, and look at ways to improve them Index of Social Deprivation (2004) national ranking: for example with better street lighting.

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