Neighbourhood Plan Householder Questionnaire

Biddulph Town Council is producing a Neighbourhood Plan for the area to guide the planning and future development of Biddulph up to 2035.  The Neighbourhood Plan will enable the local community to have more say in what kind of development is allowed, including protecting key assets and local green spaces.

Neighbourhood Plans introduced by the Localism Act in 2011 are produced by local people for their own areas and are only brought into force after a majority vote by residents in a local referendum.  It is therefore very important that local people are able to have a say about what goes into the Neighbourhood Plan.

Neighbourhood Plans carry weight - they are part of the statutory planning system.  This means that Staffordshire Moorlands District Council will have to take the policies and proposals in the Biddulph Neighbourhood Plan into account when it makes decisions on planning applications in the town.

The Town Council is consulting the local community now, before any plans or proposals have been made, so that people can influence what goes into the Neighbourhood Plan.  Completing this Householder Questionnaire will give us the evidence and rationale to help us draft policies and write the plan, which will be the subject of further community consultation at a later stage. 

Allow 15 minutes to complete this questionnaire and please return it before Friday 22 December 2017.

You can find more information about the Neighbourhood Plan at www.mybiddulph.co.uk

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* 1. What age ranges are currently in your household? (you can select more than one answer)

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* 2. Postcode (Please type in this box)

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* 3. Are you the only person in your household completing this questionnaire?

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* 4. How long have you lived in the town?

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* 5. What are the things that you like about living in the Neighbourhood Plan area?

  Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Not applicable
The rural surroundings
The people/ community
Historic character
Town Centre
Ease of commute

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* 6. Please consider the importance of our existing facilities and services to you

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Community Police
Schools
GP Surgery
First responders
Other healthcare services, e.g. dentist, optician.
Leisure Centre
Places of Worship
Youth Facilities
Festival events
Pubs, restaurants, cafes
Community Halls

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* 7. Do you think that these services can cope with the number of people that currently use them?

  They are too busy (I struggle to get an appointment or access this service) They seem to be managing There don't seem to be many people who use this service I don't know/ don't access
Community Police
Schools
GP Surgery
First responders
Other healthcare services, e.g. dentist, optician.
Leisure Centre
Places of Worship
Youth Facilities
Festival events
Pubs, restaurants, cafes
Community Halls

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* 8. Do you think that there are any services or facilities that need to be introduced into the town, or existing services not mentioned that need improving?

Please list and give your reasons why:

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* 9. Please tell us how important you think the following are:

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Variety of shops (chains and independents)
Pubs, restaurants, cafes
Monthly market in the High Street
Weekly fresh food stalls in the High Street
Improving the look of High Street premises
Mixed business and residential developments
Promote home working with high speed broadband
Off-street parking
Maintain local centres (e.g. shops and pubs outside the main town centre)
Establishing a Biddulph Museum
Having an event space outside the Town Hall

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* 10. Please tell us what your download speed is:
 (Type ‘what is my download speed?’ into your search engine)

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* 11. Do you think Biddulph Town Centre should be pedestrianised?

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* 12. Thinking about business development and opportunities in the neighbourhood area, do you currently work in the following types of businesses?

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* 13. Thinking about question 12 and your experience of businesses in the town, do you think there is a need for more or new spaces like these?

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* 14. Questions 14, 15 and 16 are asking you to think about the same locations, but in relation to Heritage, Culture and Tourism.

Below is a list of key characteristics for Biddulph in terms of Heritage.  Please tell us how important this is to you:

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Biddulph in Bloom
Biddulph Grange Gardens
Biddulph’s Country Parks (The Grange and Knypersley)
Knypersley Hall and Walled Garden
Biddulph Old Hall
Biddulph Parish Church of St Lawrence and the Crusader graves
The site of Biddulph’s Mott & Bailey castle
Knypersley Cricket Club
Biddulph Town Hall
Biddulph’s listed buildings and locally listed buildings, including: Marsh Green Rd- Plague Stone, The Buttercross Parish marker stone (Overton Rd), The Toll Rd troughs (Congleton Road & Overton Road), Biddulph’s old milestones
The town’s old fustian mills
Preserving the town’s industrial heritage
Biddulph Valley Way (former railway line) cycle and pedestrian route

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* 15. Below is a list of key characteristics for Biddulph in terms of Culture.  Please tell us how important this is to you:

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Biddulph in Bloom
Biddulph Grange Gardens
Biddulph’s Country Parks (The Grange and Knypersley)
Knypersley Hall and Walled Garden
Biddulph Old Hall
Biddulph Parish Church of St Lawrence and the Crusader graves
The site of Biddulph’s Mott & Bailey castle
Knypersley Cricket Club
Biddulph Town Hall
Biddulph’s listed buildings and locally listed buildings, including: Marsh Green Rd- Plague Stone, The Buttercross Parish marker stone (Overton Rd), The Toll Rd troughs (Congleton Road & Overton Road), Biddulph’s old milestones
The town’s old fustian mills
Preserving the town’s industrial heritage
Biddulph Valley Way (former railway line) cycle and pedestrian route

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* 16. Below is a list of key characteristics for Biddulph in terms of Tourism.  Please tell us how important this is to you:

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Biddulph in Bloom
Biddulph Grange Gardens
Biddulph’s Country Parks (The Grange and Knypersley)
Knypersley Hall and Walled Garden
Biddulph Old Hall
Biddulph Parish Church of St Lawrence and the Crusader graves
The site of Biddulph’s Mott & Bailey castle
Knypersley Cricket Club
Biddulph Town Hall
Biddulph’s listed buildings and locally listed buildings, including: Marsh Green Rd- Plague Stone, The Buttercross Parish marker stone (Overton Rd), The Toll Rd troughs (Congleton Road & Overton Road), Biddulph’s old milestones
The town’s old fustian mills
Preserving the town’s industrial heritage
Biddulph Valley Way (former railway line) cycle and pedestrian route

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* 17. Would you like to see Biddulph Town promoted as, or including, any of the following: (you may select more than one)

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* 18. How important are the following criteria in the design of developments for Biddulph?

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Designed to fit with existing environment, heritage and the valley nature of area
Include well designed and integrated on-street parking in new developments
Promote development closer to the town centre to maintain the centre vitality and sustainability
Design safer streets for all users
Car parking spaces appropriate to size of dwelling
Developments to include shared open green spaces
Better designed spaces and homes to include things such as adequate car parking, bin storage etc.
Wildlife corridors to link isolated and possible endangered areas
Play/open areas
Scale and height to be in-keeping with existing surrounding buildings
Type of house/building should reflect the current housing stock and not appear out of place
Should not allow above an agreed number of houses to be built per year (i.e. phased development)
Developments to include pathway and cycleway networks as connecting corridors to schools, shops and town centre

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* 19. How important are the following criteria in the design of houses for Biddulph?

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Modern amenities and safety features
Include dwellings designed for disabled living
Make affordable housing affordable to buy, to run and to maintain
Sustainable house with rain water collection tanks for toilets and garden watering
Refuse bin spaces planned into housing design with collection access accounted for
Renewable energy generators part of housing design
Designs appropriate for the particular area (local), but taking into account the environment and energy requirement
Energy efficient design(i.e. use of energy efficient materials) as standard
Access to secure and fast internet supplies

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* 20. Should the Biddulph Neighbourhood Plan support the following options?

  Yes No
Restoring and refurbishing current housing and empty homes
Barn conversions or similar re-use of existing redundant buildings
Self-building by local people for their own use

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* 21. In terms of local transport infrastructure, what can be done to improve local journeys?

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Upgrade the road systems leading to the town centre
Create more parking spaces within the town centre
Provide alternatives to car usage
Create new cycle routes across the town
Provide secure cycle parking within the town centre
Upgrade the Biddulph Valley Way - 'National Cycle Route 55', along its length from Stoke to Congleton, to permit year round usage
Repair pavements and remove obstacles so that they can be used safely by all members of the community
Upgrade Public Footpaths so that they may be used year round
Improve Public Footpath access, signage and provide maps to residents
Provide better public transport links to Congleton railway station
Provide additional rail services from Congleton station

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* 22. We are considering Biddulph's traffic issues in relation to future development, please list any road junctions that you think are heavily congested:

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* 23. What public transport or modes other than private car do you use?

  Daily Weekly Monthly Never
Walk
Cycle
Taxi
Bus
Train

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* 24. Are you aware of any areas that flood in Biddulph? Please tell us where:

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* 25. Do you use the Biddulph Recycling Centre on Bemersley Road?

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* 26. If yes, how often do you use the Biddulph Recycling Centre

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* 27. Below is a list of different natural features.  Please tell us how important these are to you.

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Our surrounding landscape and views (the Green Belt)
Our streams, rivers, lakes and ponds
Our woodlands and large, mature/veteran trees
The wildlife in our valley
Our unusual geological features (e.g. rock formations)

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* 28. Below is a list of different outdoor places.  Please tell us how important these are to you.

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Our Country Parks (Knypersley Reservoir/Greenway Bank and Biddulph Grange)
The Biddulph Valley Way
Playgrounds for Younger Children
Playgrounds for Older Children
Our allotment sites
Our recreational fields and sports fields
Access to the countryside - our footpath network, bridleways and cycle paths

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* 29. Below is a list of issues that the Neighbourhood Plan could focus on to make things better in the future.  Please tell us which of these you think our future plan should focus on.

  Very important Important Neutral Not important Not important at all
Flooding. For example,ensuring that developers fulfil their obligations with regards to managing rainwater, working with local farmers to slow down rainwater entering the watercourses (i.e. natural flood management, planting trees), planting more trees in the Valley to slow down flood water, improve air quality and provide joined up habitats for valuable species.
Protecting hedgerows and trees. For example, ensuring that developers fulfil their nature obligations (i.e. do not remove valuable hedgerows, ancient trees, ponds), identifying green corridors (healthy streams / woodlands) in the Valley and linking them together to allow nature to move safely through the Valley (known as wildlife/ecological corridors), improving the state of our current, protected sites (e.g. ancient woodland, heathland, geological sites).
Identifying new landscape designations. For example, working to protect our Green Belt by surveying, identifying and protecting sites containing valuable habitat/species, improving the ecological value of the Biddulph Valley Way (better management for wildlife along the edges).
Maintenance and access to country parks. For example, improving access (non-car) to our valuable sites from where people live, improving the condition of our current Country Parks (Biddulph Grange and Greenway Bank/Knypersley Reservoir), promoting our special places to the general public

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* 30. Other (please add your ideas)

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* 31. Are Local Green Space designations important to you?

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* 32. If yes, are there any new areas that you would like to suggest?

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