Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 1

Parish Plan 2013 Upper Rissington

Consulting with the Community

Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 2

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 3 Parish Profile ...... 4 Village History ...... 4 Village Boundary ...... 6 Village Overview 2011 ...... 7 Types of Dwellings ...... 7 Travel to Work ...... 7 Occupations ...... 8 Age Profile ...... 8 Qualifications ...... 9 Summary ...... 10 Consultation Findings ...... 11 Responses to Consultation ...... 11 Results in Numbers ...... 13 Household and Transport ...... 13 Social and Community ...... 15 Communication ...... 18 Environment ...... 20 Youth Responses ...... 22 The Action Plan ...... 23 Setting Expectations ...... 23 The 10-point Action Plan ...... 25 Appendices ...... 29

Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 3

Introduction

Why have a Parish Plan? Having a Parish Plan means you know what people in our village would like to see happen in their village, what they like and don’t like about the village. It gives the local Parish Council and Organisations the information they need to plan for the village and gives ‘proof of need’ when seeking grants.

The Upper Rissington Parish Plan is a statement of what people want to see happen in their village, what they like about it and what would they like to change. It has been produced on behalf of the Upper Rissington Parish Council by a Steering Committee comprising of volunteers who live in Upper Rissington.

The process was started at the Fireworks & Bonfire Event in November 2011, with a simple like, dislike and would like to see boards. This was a useful start, as it gave the Steering Committee a rough idea of what people thought about their village.

A questionnaire was formulated, through many meetings culminating in the Household Survey with a special section for the youth of our village, being hand delivered to all houses during July 2012. Volunteers then collected it in August, trying to maximize the number of households completing the Survey. Finally a drop in box was placed in the local shop to try and get those houses that hadn’t already had their Survey collected, to drop it off.

This information was collated and presented in a basic form at the Easter Egg Hunt Event at the end of March 2013, for residents to see what main topics came out of the Survey and to ask them to mark nine of the topics that they thought were the most important to them.

The Steering Committee would like to thank all those who have given their time to help produce this plan and especial thanks to Wayne Fisher for hosting the many meetings and to Marilyn Cox of Rural Community Council (GRCC) for her advice & guidance. David Harrison, Chairman Upper Rissington Parish Council

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Parish Profile

Village History

Upper Rissington is unique among Cotswold Villages. It is a village that is developing from the historically valuable Air Base and situated at the centre of the Cotswolds. The village has really started to take shape since the mid sixties making this still a relatively young community, both in terms of the age profile of the village and in terms of the maturity of services and facilities. Recent planning approvals are leading to an update in the villages’ older military infrastructure and the introduction of newer services and facilities to serve a rapidly growing community. The following are the key milestones in the village history; 1936 – Work begins on the construction of an airfield on the hill above Little Rissington 1938 – RAF Little Rissington opened 1946 – The arrive to head the RAF 1976 – The Central Flying School moves to Cranwell 1984 – The airfield becomes a satellite base for Upper Heyford and the U.S. Air Force 1986 – Southgate and Sandy Lane Courts are constructed on the site of the old barracks 1991 – The airfield serves as a contingency hospital during the 1994 – The U.S. Air Force leave and the site is abandoned 1995 – Plans to develop the airfield into a new village are approved 1996 – The parish of Upper Rissington is created and Country and Metropolitan buy the site 1996 to 2002 – A period of phased development during which existing homes are upgraded and new homes are constructed. The 2001 census shows the village comprising 341 dwellings with a population of 868, rising by 2011 to 395 dwellings and a population of 1046. 2005 - The land with approval for further development is acquired by Reland Rissington 2010 – Outline planning permission is gained for the construction of 368 further homes. Sixty- four of these homes will be by renovation of two of the village’s historically attractive buildings, including the old Officers Mess. In addition the plan will see the development of a new Village Hall with sports facilities, a new village school federated with the top rated Great Rissington School and a pub and supermarket. Provision is also in the plan for a satellite doctor’s surgery when there is sufficient identifiable demand. Landscaping of the village will improve its attractiveness and walkways and cycle paths are included to improve the opportunity for a healthy lifestyle. 2012 - The site is sold by Reland to a consortium comprising Linden and Bovis Homes. They pursue the outline planning to obtain detailed planning permission. Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 5

2013 – Work begins on the development, which is known as Victory Fields. This development will see the upgrading of the village infrastructure through the provision of mains water and gas, enhanced sewerage facilities and the long hoped for high-speed broadband. The new primary school will be constructed ready for occupation in October 2014. There will be small industrial units in the old business park area to provide more jobs for the village. Existing transport links will be enhanced and new ones established into Oxfordshire. This development is planned to take 5 years to completion, by which time the village of Upper Rissington will comprise approximately 750 dwellings with a population nearing 2000 persons. When this is completed Upper Rissington should become a thriving, modern Cotswold Village, a “nice place” to live and bring up your family.

The new development at Upper Rissington will bring a further 368 homes to the village Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 6

Village Boundary The blue lines define the boundary of the Parish of Upper Rissington

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Village Overview 2011

The 2011 census of Upper Rissington showed the following statistics:

Types of Dwellings

400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

Travel to Work 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

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Occupations

120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Age Profile

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Age8 Age4 Age12 Age16 Age20 Age28 Age32 Age36 Age40 Age48 Age52 Age56 Age60 Age68 Age72 Age76 Age80 Age88 Age92 Age96 Age24 Age44 Age64 Age84 Age Under 1 AgeUnder

Age100 andOver Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 9

Qualifications

400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

Health

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0 Very Good Good Health Fair Health Bad Health Very Bad Health Health

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Summary

Upper Rissington has a relatively young, well-qualified population; the demographic peaks being at 40-45 with children aged between 5 and 15. The large majority consequently enjoys a good, or very good, standard of health. Virtually all persons live in houses as opposed to apartments, the average house having 2.65 occupants with 1.76 cars. This ratio is unchanged from 2001. The rural location of the village is reflected in the fact that over 80% of those who travel to work, do so by car or van whilst 7% work from home.

Today RAF ‘Little Rissington’ remains active for elementary flying training and is a designated ‘Core Site’ until 2030

The beauty of a Cotswold Autumn in Upper Rissington

Children board the bus for school in Bourton on The Water The disused Officers Mess ready for

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Consultation Findings

Responses to Consultation The questionnaire that was circulated to all homes in Upper Rissington was designed to collect information in two ways. The first was through the use of optional tick boxes, which provides a numeric analysis of the community view. Of over 340 responses the most requested items were;

1 - Emergency plan for bad weather (76%)

2 - Bonfire Night (76%)

3 - Village Fete (70%)

4 - Scheduled Community Transport (68%)

5 - No change to street lighting (62%)

6 - Wildflowers to be planted on green spaces (62%)

7 - More services at village hall (58%)

8 - Village Cycle ways (58%)

9 - Summer Barbeque (57%)

10 - Regular Parish Newsletter (57%)

11 - A village Bar (51%)

There were also over 80 responses from the youth of the village and the top three requests were;

1 - Cinema (71%)

2 - Tennis Club (51%)

3 - Art Club 42%

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The second way in which data was collected on the household forms was in defined areas where opinions were expressed in freehand. These are more difficult to analyse numerically but they do give an opportunity for the community to be heard on matters that are considered important. We had a terrific response from the community, which we have categorised as follows;

- Roads

- Built Environment

- Natural Environment

- Safety/Police

- Communication

- Social and Leisure

- Sports

- Tourism

- Housing

- Services

- Other

We had nearly 200 suggestions within these categories with many helpful and well thought through ideas. Others, for example regarding the preservation or scrapping of the old military road signs, contradicted each other. Many suggestions were highly desirable (for example a village swimming pool) but had to undergo a reality check (the commitment of this level capital and annual costs is outside of the scope of the Parish Plan Steering Group). Some suggestions were so practical and popular that they could be started straightaway, for example a Village Social Committee who are actively planning and running social events such as the Curry Quiz night, bonfire night and a range of new activities planned for the coming years. In fact, between the accumulation of data and the publication of the Parish Plan many achievable goals are either underway or complete. Other suggestions, when combined with the numerical analysis, help developers understand the demand for new services such as a Village Pub and public Transport. There are a range of factors that have reduced the original list of ideas, including obvious issues around, practicality, affordability and desirability. The full list of ideas is included as an appendix at the end of this report.

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Results in Numbers The following graphs and charts illustrate the responses to the household surveys.

Household and Transport This first chart illustrates the number of vehicles per household and supports the view that driving is not a luxury for Upper Rissington residents, but a necessity. This has an impact on roads, parking, bad weather planning and informs the need for more public transport if reliance on cars is in any way to be diminished.

Vehicles per Household

None One Two Three or More Chart 1a

Chart 1b is a summary of the response that sought household opinion on improvements to public transport. Overwhelmingly it supported the improvement of scheduled services rather than the introduction of, for example, car share schemes. Three quarters of the respondents that are currently reliant upon Public Transport declared themselves to be dissatisfied with the current services.

Community Transport

Available by arrangement Scheduled Services Wouldn't Use

Chart 1b

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Chart 1c gives some view of the distances travelled to work by the current residents of Upper Rissington. They give a good idea of the distance the average resident lives away from their place of work. As can be seen, two thirds of residents travel more than 10 miles to work.

Distance to Work

No one in employment

Work in UR

Within 10 miles of UR

Within 25 Miles of UR

More than 25 miles from UR

Chart 1c Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 15

Social and Community In this section the respondents were asked for about the social side of living in Upper Rissington. The Parish Plan Group quickly identified the need from the community to improve this side of life in Upper Rissington. The Parish Council sought help to establish a group responsible for the preparation and running of events and social gatherings in the village. The following charts are the evidence upon which this action was based.

This first chart shows the numbers in the community that attended past events and would attend future events;

140

120

100

80 Past 60 Future

40

20

0 Bonfire Sports Village Quiz Summer Kids Fun Night Mile Fete Nights Barbecue Day Chart 2a Note. Sports mile was referenced as attended in the past, but not directly asked for in the future. The question that most closely linked to this was one asking if respondents would support a sports day and it’s this response that is used in the comparison. Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 16

Chart 2b identifies the facilities that the community would use if provided; Facilities Supported

32 Allotments 31 70 Tennis Courts 26 Bar 35 74 Skate Park

84 Brownies/Guides Beavers/Cubs/Scouts IT Club/Classes

Chart 2b The numbers in the chart identify the number of respondents that would use the facility. The responses represent half the village, so for the full village we would anticipate a significantly higher demand. Also, it would probably be reasonable to assume that almost doubling the number of homes in the village will result in an increase in demand for these facilities from the new community.

The following shows the current and potential use of the village hall

120 100 80 60 40 20 Currently Use 0 Would Use Hire Hire Other Other Event Curve Curve Dance Dance Aikido Keep Fit Keep Playgroup Youth Club Youth Plant Sales Sales Plant Lunch Club Lunch PC Meeting PCMeeting Regular Bar Regular Arts andCraftsArts Health Services Services Health Computer Skills ComputerSkills Computer Access ComputerAccess Home Office Support HomeOffice Mothers andToddlers Mothers Regular Social Events Social Regular Business Meeting Space Meeting Business Chart 2c Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 17

Chart 2c indicates far more potential from the village hall than is currently being realised. When asked if services should be added into the planned village hall rather than the current village hall, 95 respondents felt that the new services should be added to the new village hall, 48 wanted the new services in the existing village hall while 18 saw no requirement for additional services.

Upper Rissington Village Hall, the centre for community events due to be replaced in 2014 by a more modern hall incorporating sports facilities.

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Communication At the time of the survey Internet usage was growing but currently looked as follows Internet Access

Home Work Public place School Other

Chart 3a

Half of the community has access to the Internet at home but at the time of the survey only 56 respondents knew of the Parish web site http://www.upperrissington-pc.gov.uk.

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When asked how they currently receive information and how they would like to receive information, respondents answered as follows;

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Currently 20 Would Like 10 0

Chart 3b

There is a demand for a Parish newsletter and when the question was asked to determine the frequency the following was the response;

Frequency of Newsletter

Quarterly When there's news Rather use the internet Do not want newsletter

Chart 3c Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 20

Environment When asked about street lighting the vote split down as follows; Street Lighting

More Street Lighting

Less Street Lighting

No Change to Street Lighting

Chart 4a

Looking down from Upper Rissington on a crisp spring morning. Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 21

There was a question regarding green spaces where we wanted to assess the appetite of the community for more planting around the village. This vote was a little more debatable as 40% of people wanted bulbs planted on green spaces and 62% would like to see wildflowers planted.

As a rural location in the High Wold one of the major priorities identified was the need for an emergency plan in the event of bad weather, where the risk of closed roads and interrupted utilities are a particular worry for the village. More than three quarters of respondents identified this as a priority.

When asked about other village attributes the positive responses were as follows; Natural Facilities

Cycleways Health Walks Allotments Community Orchard

Community Woodland Natural Facilities Energy Clubs for Fuel Relocate Noticeboards More Public Benches More Footpaths

0 20 40 60 80 100 Chart 4b

There’s no shortage of green spaces in the village for dog walkers and nature lovers

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Youth Responses In addition to the household questionnaire, there was a specific questionnaire to be completed by those aged between 4 and 18. There were 86 completed responses from the youth of the village. There was good feedback that included an indication of the facilities that would be supported by the youth of the village; Youth Activities Wanted

Skateboarding Keep Fit Cinema Drama Club

Music Club Youth Activities Wanted Art Club Tennis Club Rugby Club Football Club

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Chart 5a This is a great indicator of where we can do better in establishing youth programs.

The current play park will be supplemented The football pitch. The new school will also have a sports field by more facilities with the new development

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The Action Plan

Setting Expectations The purpose behind the research was and is to inform decision-making and inspire action in the community. It gives evidence for a three way approach in terms of actions; • Things we can do for ourselves • Things we can do working with partners • Things others can do better when they know what we want

The Parish Plan and the action plan will generate actions by local people, local agencies and organisations to generate these positive and desirable outcomes. There are a number of potential contributors to this plan and these are identified as the plan is presented. These contributors include levels of Local Government who will have a role in sometimes driving, sometimes supporting and sometimes enabling actions that achieve the plan. They include voluntary groups in the village who may be able to expand their activities to help in the execution of the plan. They include the developers, Bovis and Linden, who can use the plan to help inform their decision-making when it comes to the detail of installing village facilities. In some key areas it involves us the community. There is always room for more people to get involved. If we want to see a new organisation or action achieved in the village we should contact the Parish Council to be put in touch with those that can help.

From all of the feedback received it was decided that we should set out a ten-point plan for the village. The Parish Council will be responsible for monitoring and reporting progress back to the community as an agenda item on their regular meetings, but everyone in Upper Rissington owns the Plan.

The plan has been developed using the efforts of a group of volunteers set up by the Parish Council. It has sought the views of the community in many ways, including household questionnaires and surveys along with feedback sessions at events. This has taken time and almost two years has elapsed since the first discussions regarding the desirability of a Paris Plan. However, This doesn’t mean that it has taken two years for anything to happen. The initial research showed a strong desire for the development of the community spirit and the development of social opportunities. Subsequent research and census data gave solid data that supported the need for immediate action on this. So, in agreement with the Parish Council, a Social Committee was formed. Since then the Social Committee has developed ideas and activities and showed that it is effective at producing events which local people have attended Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 24

in numbers and appreciated. It has become a sustainable body, working throughout the year and linking people together to produce events including Curry Quiz Nights, Fireworks Display, Village Fete and Barn Dance, Easter Egg Hunt and the first Upper Rissington Pantomime. These have been well attended and are helping to develop the community spirit. There is more to do in this area as is discussed in the plan, but if all progress in the plan is as sustainable, it bodes well for the future of Upper Rissington, its current and future communities.

There is still plenty of room for more people to help and get involved with events and future clubs. Contact [email protected] or call 07592 533596

As a result of early feedback from the planning process a Social Committee has been set up to focus on delivering Community engaging events which already includes the Village Fete, Easter egg hunt, Fireworks display, Christmas Panto, Curry and Quiz Nights

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The 10-point Action Plan

1 - Upper Rissington – Emergency Plan

There is a need in the village to identify key actions and contingencies in the event of emergencies caused by weather, utility failure or disaster. The emergency plan should include the identification of village volunteers available to assist with implementation and should have a strategy for assisting the most vulnerable in the village. It should be widely publicized and regularly updated to take account of the changing village demography.

Key responsibility for the development and implementation of this plan will initially lie with the Parish Council who will at some level manage the item but might find a volunteer group responsible for its development and upkeep.

2 - Community Development

The Social Committee has been established as a freestanding entity drawing in volunteer effort and management from a combination of Parish Councilors and the wider community. It has already been active in setting up a number of events and will continue to develop this so that the village has a minimum of six large scale events a year including highlight events of Village Fete, Firework Display, Christmas Party and Easter Party.

New clubs and groups are wanted in the village. Where identified, the Social Committee will assist with advice and guidance for the establishment of new groups.

Key responsibilities here lie within the community where identification and resourcing of new groups can be supported by Parish Council and Social Committee, but we will need individuals in the community to act if new groups are to develop sustainably.

3 – Scheduled Community Transport

There is a demand for an improved public transport service around Upper Rissington. With the village expanding significantly this demand will grow. New bus services are being planned as an extension of the development of Victory Fields. These services will require monitoring to ensure that we have the right bus services at the right times. Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 26

Key actions here lie with the developers whose plan for new bus services should be implemented quickly, with the Parish Council who should establish a monitoring process to make sure that the bus services are addressing the community need and providing feedback to the community.

4 – Natural Environment

Residents of Upper Rissington expressed a wish to see better use of its green spaces. Included here are; More planting of wildflowers on common ground Community woodland and community orchard, providing fruit and fuel to the community

The key actions here lie with developers and Parish Council who should identify areas for planting and with volunteers to plant and maintain these environments.

5 – Broaden the use of the Village Hall

The new village hall provides the community with a range of new potential functions and facilities. In addition to sports capabilities the community have expressed support for the development of the following range of services to be located in the village hall.

Regular (monthly) medical services (hearing aid services/chiropody etc) Regular Cinema showings Office support services Computer hire and training services

The key actions here lie with the Parish Council who will evaluate the practicality of the range of services, and with the community to use them

6 – Facilitate a healthier community through expanding natural cycle/foot paths

The community has expressed support for expanding footpaths so that they link in with old rights of way and a new footpath to Little Rissington that would provide a safe walkway between Upper Rissington and Bourton on the Water. The provision of cycle paths throughout the village will reduce the need for within village car journeys and enable the community to Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 27

improve general health and fitness through cycling. In addition, trim trails off footpaths are widely supported. Cycle paths and trim trail are facilities promised as a part of the village development plan.

The key responsibilities here are for the Parish Council to work with District and County Authorities to achieve the plan of footpaths to Bourton and old rights of way. The developers are responsible for providing cycle paths and trim trail and this should be monitored by Parish and Cotswold District Council to ensure appropriate and timely implementation.

7 – Regular Parish Newsletter

Communication is helped in the village by the use of Social Media to discuss emerging news and issues. However, there is a demand for a regular stream of information and many residents would like to see this in the form of either a printed newsletter or a newsletter regularly posted to the web.

We need volunteers to set up a Parish editorial group who will cover the range of community interests and regularly report on Social events, items of interest in the locality, changes and appointments in the Parish, emergency plan updates general notices and items of interest.

8 – A village bar

There was a demand for either a village pub or for the bar to be regularly opened in the village hall. Past experience of running a bar from the village hall, the fact that the new village hall won’t have a bar and the desire for more flexibility of use from the village hall need to be taken into consideration. However, the plan for the new development is to incorporate a new village pub. The requirement is for a family friendly pub with outdoor space and food availability.

Key responsibility here lies with the developers and the purpose of this appearing in the plan is to emphasise that there were more than 50% of the respondents that would support this facility.

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9 – Allotments

Great demand exists in the community for allotments. Some respondents expressed the view that there should be some half-sized allotments available for those that would like smaller plots.

Key responsibilities here lie with the Parish Council to secure the allotment area, with the developers to make the allotments ready for use and with the community to establish an allotment society.

10 – Tennis Club

The availability of tennis courts in Upper Rissington means that it is practical and affordable for the village to have a tennis facility. This is incorporated in the development plan, but needs the establishment of a tennis club to manage maintenance and booking.

The developers must provide a timely and appropriate facility, and the Parish Council should monitor and press for this. As owners they will manage the facility and/or lease to an accredited Tennis Club.

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Appendices

There were two types of feedback, the household survey that has been analysed and is attached here as appendices, and at a number of events we sought community input to the developing plan. The later pages show the actions separated into both adult and youth areas and are designed to monitor and manage progress with the use of red green and amber indicators. These detail sheets are appended to show the complete research picture, but the action plan detail as it appears here will not be up to date. The action plan by its nature is a living plan and subject to constant change. For this reason, the plan is maintained online and regularly updated. If you want an updated copy of the action plan please contact the Parish Clerk who will direct the steering group to provide it.

Feedback for the Parish Plan came from Household Surveys and a number of events gave the community the opportunity to comment on and prioritise action.

The following pages are the detail summary documents relating to the household surveys. Upper Rissington Parish Plan 2013 30

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