Cheriton Shepway Ward Profile May 2015 Hythe Rural Hythe Rural -2- Hythe Rural Foreword ..........................................................................................................5 Brief Introduction to area .............................................................................6 Map of area ......................................................................................................7 Demographic ...................................................................................................8 Local Economy ..............................................................................................11 Education and skills .....................................................................................15 Health & Wellbeing ......................................................................................17 Housing .........................................................................................................22 Neighbourhood/community ......................................................................24 Planning & Development ...........................................................................26 Physical Assets .............................................................................................27 Arts and culture ...........................................................................................33 Crime ........................................................................................................... 36 Endnotes/websites ......................................................................................37 -3- Hythe Rural -4- Hythe Rural Foreword Dear Reader, • The information on community assets for this profile was gathered by working One of Shepway District Council’s priorities is to provide opportunities for elected members and in collaboration with partners and by local residents to work together to influence engaging with local community and decisions and shape their local community. We voluntary groups. I would like to personally know how important good information is in helping thank everyone who has contributed to people to understand local issues, identify service this document. The statistical information need and find ways to improve local services and was primarily drawn from the 2011 Census, amenities. That is why I am proud to present the ward profile for the new electoral ward of Hythe unless otherwise stated. Other sources Rural Ward, which I hope you will find an interesting include: and informative read. • 2013 Midyear population estimates from the Office of National Statistics1 The purpose of the ward profile is to: • Acorn Customer Insight Profiler2 • Provide a shared resource for people • Kent and Medway Public Health wanting to find out about their local Observatory3 community; • Kent County Council Research and • Support elected members with their Intelligence Team4 community role as civic leaders and community champions; We will develop our ward profiles over time and we • Provide elected members with useful would really appreciate your feedback on this ward information about their new ward; profile so we can make sure it is as up-to-date and • Assist elected members with identifying relevant as possible. Please provide any feedback to [email protected]. priorities that could potentially be included in their ward plan; Best wishes, • Provide a resource that is made publically available for wider use by the public and voluntary / community groups (e.g. to support funding bids). Alistair Stewart Chief Executive Our intention is for ward profiles to be used as widely as possible and to be made available to Councillors, council officers, Town and Parish Councils, voluntary and community groups, as well as the general public on the council website www.shepway.gov.uk. This ward profile contains a variety of information on demographics (e.g. population, deprivation); population outcomes; the level of service provision and local community facilities and amenities. This information is grouped by themes in order to make it as easy as possible to find the information you want. -5- Hythe Rural Hythe Rural ‘Outstanding Natural Beauty’ Hythe Rural ward covers an area of 6.5 square miles and comprises the settlements of Lympne, Court at Street, West Hythe and Palmarsh located in the beautiful rural areas of the North Downs AONB and the beginning of the Romney Marsh. The ward can be divided into two distinct parts, A key feature in this part of the ward is the Hythe separated by the escarpment and the Royal Ranges, which is Ministry of Defence (MOD) owned Military Canal. land that stretches along the entire coastal boundary of the ward. They are among the oldest ranges in the At the top of the escarpment, set in a predominantly country and have been used for live firing for nearly rural area, are the village of Lympne and the hamlet 200 years. Every soldier posted overseas will have of Court-at -Street. Lympne acquired its name used this facility. Another area of MOD land in the after a Roman Fort called Port Lemanis which was ward is the Roughs, which is also used as a military on the coast near the River Limene (this has since training area. changed course and become the River Rother). It has approximately 600 houses and a population Military History is an imporant feature of the ward. of 1,5755. The village is partly situated in an Area As well as The Ranges, there are other important of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the sites including Lympne Airfield, The Royal Military older part of the village is in a conservation area. Canal, The Roughs, Several Martello Towers and the St Stephen’s Church and Lympne Castle are listed Dymchurch Redoubt. buildings along with some of the surrounding properties. The views from along the edge of the the two parts of Hythe Rural Ward are linked by the escarpment and down across the Romney Marsh A261, West Hythe Road - a narrow winding country and out to sea are some of the best in the district. road that crosses The Royal Military Canal before ascending up the steep and narrow gradient of At the bottom of the escarpment are West Hythe Lympne Hill. and Palmarsh. The eastern end of West Hythe is urban in nature with several industrial estates the ward is home to two key tourist attractions and housing estates along the A259 and into located within the district: Port Lympne Wild Animal Palmarsh. To the west of Palmarsh the ward Park and the terminus of the Romney Hythe and becomes increasingly rural and marks the start Dymchurch Railway. of the Romney Marsh area with fewer properties and more open space. -6- Hythe Rural -7- Hythe Rural Demographics The 2013 midyear population estimates published by the Office of National Statistics gives the total electorate of Hythe Rural as 4,897. The chart below shows that the population of Hythe Rural is generally older than the average in Kent. There are a lower proportion of people in the age group 20 to 39 years than in Kent as a whole. The largest age group for both men and women is 65 to 69 years. The data shows its popularity for older people as a place to live. Marital status The majority (55%) of Hythe Rural residents are married which is above the Kent level, and 19% report that they are single and have never been married. Hythe Rural is below the Kent level for single people and is above the county for the people who have been widowed. Married 2,708 Cohabiting 436 Same-sex civil partnership or cohabiting 36 Single (never married) 925 Married or in civil partnership 46 Separated (but still legally married) 73 Divorced 291 Widowed 382 -8- Hythe Rural Ethnicity British and Irish make up the vast majority (96.5%) of the population with Other White, the next biggest group making up 1.5%. Hythe Rural is below the Kent average for Other White and Other Asian. Hythe Rural Shepway Kent English/ Welsh/ Scottish/ NI 5,676 96.0% 90.8% 89.1% Irish 31 0.5% 0.7% 0.7% Gypsy or Irish Traveller 6 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% Other White 88 1.5% 3.0% 3.6% White and Black Caribbean 7 0.1% 0.4% 0.4% White and Black African 2 0% 0.1% 0.2% White and Asian 13 0.2% 0.4% 0.5% Other Mixed 16 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% Indian 7 0.1% 0.4% 1.2% Pakistani 0 0% 0.1% 0.2% Bangladeshi 9 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% Chinese 8 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% Other Asian 36 0.6% 2.5% 1.2% African 6 0.1% 0.3% 0.8% Caribbean 2 0% 0.1% 0.2% Other Black 3 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% Arab 0 0% 0.1% 0.1% Any other ethnic group 3 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% -9- Hythe Rural Length of residence in the UK Almost all the residents of Hythe Rural (98.7%) have lived in the UK for more than 10 years. The proportion of people who live in the ward and moved to the UK recently is lower than the county and Shepway average. Hythe Rural Shepway Kent Born in the UK 5,626 95.1% 90.8% 90.9% Less than 2 years 28 0.5% 1.2% 1.2% More than 2 years and less than 5 years 22 0.4% 1.6% 1.5% More than 5 years and less than 10 years 26 0.4% 1.6% 1.8% 10 years or more 211 3.6% 4.9% 4.6% Main Languages (residents aged 3 and over) The most commonly spoken language in Hythe Rural is English. The ward is above the Kent average for ‘other European languages’ and ‘East Asian’ which reflects the ethnicity profile. There ward also has a higher proportion of French speakers.. Hythe Rural Shepway Kent English 5,654 95.1% 95.5% Welsh/Cymraeg 2 0% - French 1 0.2% 0.2% Portuguese 2 - 0.1% Spanish 2 0.1% 0.1% Other European Language (EU) 40 1.4% 1.8% Turkish 2 0.1% 0.1% Arabic 1 - 0.1% West/Central Asian Language 0 0.1% 0.1% South Asian Language 35 2.3% 1.2% East Asian Language 8 0.3% 0.4% African Language 1 0.1% 0.1% Other Languages 2 - - Sign Language 11 - - Other Languages 2 - 0.0% -10- Hythe Rural Local economy Over 30 businesses are located in the Lympne supply merchant (Jewsons), a furniture shop, car Industrial Estate6 including Buzzlines, Euromotive, sales, and a shopping centre called Pennypot (which Spicers, Nusteel, and several freight companies. has three takeaways, a newsagents, a pet and fishing Other significant local employers in the ward are: supplies and carpet shop).