Haslemere Healthcheck Haslemere Today A review of the issues facing the town and surrounding areas in 2003. ………And our vision for the future: Haslemere - a distinctive country town: • Valuing the past • Shaping the future by - Promoting the social, economic and environmental well being of the community. Supported by: Haslemere Town Council * Haslemere Initiative Waverley Borough Council * Surrey County Council Disclaimer This document provides the report on work undertaken during 2003 as part of the ‘Haslemere Healthcheck’. Any views, comments, or other information contained herein is provided in good faith and is believed to be correct by the contributors. Neither the contributors nor any other person or organisation associated with the Healthcheck accepts any liability for information (whether presented as fact or conjecture), views or opinions set out herein. Page 2of 2 Table of contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 STRENGTHS ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 WEAKNESSES .................................................................................................................................. 7 1.3 OPPORTUNTIES........................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. 1.4 THREATS ....................................................................................................................................... 10 2 BACKGROUND TO AND PURPOSE OF THE HEALTHCHECK ............................................ 12 2.1 PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT ........................................................................................................ 12 2.2 THE COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY AND THE MARKET TOWNS INITIATIVE............................................. 12 2.3 GENESIS OF THE HASLEMERE HEALTHCHECK ............................................................................... 13 2.4 FUNDING PARTNERS AND WORKING GROUPS ................................................................................. 14 2.5 MOVING FORWARD WITH THE HEALTHCHECK............................................................................... 14 3 BACKGROUND TO THE ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION IN HASLEMERE 15 3.1 HASLEMERE AND ITS HINTERLAND................................................................................................ 15 3.2 OUR APPROACH TO COLLECTING INFORMATION ............................................................................ 16 3.3 SOURCES OF INFORMATION ........................................................................................................... 16 3.4 LAUNCH MEETING ......................................................................................................................... 16 3.5 THE ‘SNAPSHOT’........................................................................................................................... 17 3.5.1 A snapshot of Haslemere today ............................................................................................ 17 3.6 WORKSHEETS................................................................................................................................ 18 3.7 SURVEY OF RESIDENTS’ OPINIONS................................................................................................. 18 3.8 SURVEY OF YOUNG PEOPLE’S OPINIONS......................................................................................... 19 4 ECONOMY WORKSTREAM.......................................................................................................... 20 4.1 STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS (SWOT) ................................................. 20 4.2 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 22 4.3 WORKSHEET ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................. 23 4.3.1 Employment .......................................................................................................................... 23 4.3.2 Retail and Town Centre Services.......................................................................................... 24 4.3.3 Training and Education........................................................................................................ 25 4.3.4 Commercial and Industrial Property Needs......................................................................... 25 4.3.5 Tourism and Visitor Services................................................................................................ 25 4.3.6 Business Support................................................................................................................... 26 4.3.7 Questionnaire Analysis and Free Format Comments (average view) .................................. 26 5 SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY WORKSTREAM........................................................................... 28 5.1 POPULATION.................................................................................................................................. 28 5.1.1 SWOT analysis...................................................................................................................... 28 5.1.2 Factual data.......................................................................................................................... 28 5.1.3 Public Perceptions................................................................................................................ 31 5.2 HOUSING ....................................................................................................................................... 32 5.2.1 SWOT Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 32 5.2.2 Factual data.......................................................................................................................... 32 5.2.3 Public perceptions ................................................................................................................ 33 5.3 HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY ....................................................................................................... 34 5.3.2 Factual data.......................................................................................................................... 35 Page 3of 3 5.3.3 Public Perceptions................................................................................................................ 36 5.4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS ........................................................... 37 5.4.1 SWOT Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 37 5.4.2 Factual data.......................................................................................................................... 37 5.4.3 Public Perceptions................................................................................................................ 38 5.5 SPORT, LEISURE AND OPEN SPACE................................................................................................ 39 5.5.1 SWOT Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 39 5.5.2 Factual Data......................................................................................................................... 39 5.5.3 Public Perceptions................................................................................................................ 40 5.6 CULTURE AND HERITAGE.............................................................................................................. 42 5.6.1 SWOT analysis...................................................................................................................... 42 5.6.2 Factual Data......................................................................................................................... 42 5.6.3 Public Perceptions................................................................................................................ 43 6 ENVIRONMENT WORKSTREAM ................................................................................................ 44 6.1 SWOT ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................... 44 6.2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................... 44 6.3 THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION ......................................................................................................... 45 6.3.1 The Questionnaire ................................................................................................................ 45 6.4 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. 47 7 TRANSPORT AND ACCESSIBILITY WORKSTREAM............................................................. 48 7.1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................. 48 7.2 RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................